Rugby is a highly physical sport that has been played since the early 1400s in Europe. Locally, Salisbury University’s rugby team is preparing for the upcoming Final Four Championship, as they aim to score another championship. This past weekend Salisbury University’s Club Rugby team, The Salisbury Sharks, hosted the sixteenth and eighth rounds of the 2013 DII collegiate playoffs. As the team’s first time hosting the event, the Sharks put on a stellar performance and advanced to the Final Four in Greenville, South Carolina.
The Salisbury Sharks are a highly competitive team that holds the esteemed title of the 2012 National Champions. To add to that, they are also undefeated for the 2013 season. This will also be their fourth consecutive Final Four tournament. Clearly, our local rugby champs are the pride and joy for rugby fans on the Shore.
On Saturday, Salisbury battled a tough match against Bryant University that ultimately proved victorious with the Sharks winning 34-12. The next competitor the team faced was the Coast Guard, with the match occurring during last Sunday’s frigid temperatures. The weather made the game unusually difficult as player Ryan Jackson told us, there was “freezing weather with gusts of winds bending the goal posts.”
With both teams being tried mentally and physically, the score remained close at 19-10 “until mid-second half where all our conditioning showed” Jackson told us. In the end the score seemed anything but close as “we pulled away 47-17” Jackson said.
Capatain Nick Kuhl displayed great athleticism during the Coast Guard game. Jackson reported that “a highlight of the weekend had to have been … Kuhl’s try (goal) … where he made a run down the side line, kicked to himself and recovered the ball.” Jackson also commented that “it was a beautiful play and a big try that helped us pull away.”
The upcoming tournament will have the Sharks competing against teams from places as close as Towson and as far Colorado. The team takes on James Madison University first, “and if all goes well, we’ll play the winner of Minnesota Duluth and Wisconsin Whitewater” said Jackson. Because the Sharks “have been working well as a team and putting in long hours of practice,” as Jackson commented, hopefully all of their hard work will pay off with a second consecutive National Title.
Here at ShoreBread, we wish the Salisbury Sharks the best at the tournament on December 6th and 7th and hopes they come back with trophy in tow!
