I have been watching senior men's rugby player Mike Graham since his high school days with Doylestown Rugby. This past weekend, May 17-18, Graham lead Glendale (of Glendale, Colorado) to a win in the Division One playoffs. The win secured their place in the semi-finals for the national championship, to be held in their home town May 31-June 1. In the last five minutes in their crucial game against South Side Irish, Graham added a penalty kick and a drop goal to their score. The final was 29 to 20.
Glendale beat Long Island in the first round of play-offs, a team that may not have been wholly deserving of a trip to Austin in the first place. In their bid for the sweet sixteen, Long Island won in a controversial match against Philadelphia area's undefeated Media Rugby. Media was up 20 to 0 in the first 15 minutes of the game. Then the ref made some dicey calls and three Media players went into the sin bin within 5 minutes of one another. With Media weakened, Long Island came back and ended up taking the game.
Looking ahead, the Championship round should prove to be exciting. Four teams, with only one, Life University, having two comfortable wins in the playoffs. Glendale is set to play Pearl City, and Life University to play Olympic Club.
For more information, go to USARugby.org
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