LARC v OMBAC
Saturday 2nd February 2008
By Marcus Pigrom.
On Saturday an anxious but motivated Los Angeles Rugby Club headed to San Diego to face off with OMBAC Rugby Club. Nationally recognized as one of the premier clubs in the country, OMBAC has often dominated the Super League--the most elite level of rugby competition in the U.S. A victory on Saturday at the Little Q would earn the winning side a chance to compete for Southern California’s Ganey Cup Championship.
LARC entered the competition with a well-stacked roster, including two key players returning from injuries. Prop Kana Fakava returned to the field, having recovered from an injury suffered in the first league game of the season, and flanker-turned-lock James Hemkin rejoined the team after a serious knee injury, which occurred during last season’s Division II National Championships.
Tensions ran high from the start. Both teams managed to settle down, however, after a few tenuous moments in the first minute of the game. Defensively, both units were solid in the tackle; it was a game of field possession for the first 20 minutes, with both teams missing opportunities within the 22-meter line with penalties or turnovers.
OMBAC posted the first points with a line break by their prop who offloaded the ball to a charging lock who then fed the wing to finish the try. OMBAC exploited this momentum and secured two more tries to dominate the first half, the second of which resulted from impressive OMBAC forward pack phases and a driving maul in the corner. LARC caught a few lucky breaks in the first half, however, when OMBAC failed to convert any of their three first-half tries. OMBAC led 15 – 0 at halftime.
Frustrated yet determined, LARC looked to coach Marty Jones and his assistants Julian Bristow and Jaxs Roper for guidance. With renewed focus, LARC hit the field with confidence; the club is no stranger to overcoming double-digit deficits. From the start of the second half, the LARC pack controlled the tempo and physicality of the game. With help from forwards Kana, Gabe, Big Bruce, Joe, and Sean, LARC began to break the gain line with an assortment of pick and goes, crashes, and rolling mauls that diminished the OMBAC pack. LARC finally got on the scoreboard with a skip pass from fly half Marcus behind center Hunter to fullback Simon, who raced down the sideline. With one man to beat, Simon drew the defender and passed to winger Tonga. Tonga outpaced his opposition with an impressive try in the corner.
The conversion was no good, but LARC shook it off and continued with quality forward pack phases and mauls. The intensity of key players Dave and George resulted in a memorable welcome back try for James, who recovered the ball from the rear of the ruck and squeezed through the OMBAC defense for the score. Marcus was successful with the sideline conversion, bringing LARC to within three points of OMBAC, resulting in a score of 15 – 12.
Employing the “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” strategy, the LA pack continued to run multiple phases into OMBAC territory. Another LARC forward pack try resulted after several crushing phases and a dive under the posts by Big Bruce. The conversion was good, and LARC had claimed its first lead of the game with ten minutes left to play with a score of 19 - 15.
Excitement mounted at the Little Q field as OMBAC came out with a vengeance. They were determined not to lose to the new Division I team on their home pitch. Despite a great defensive effort by LARC, OMBAC pinned the ball in LA territory with well-placed kicks. The LARC defensive line was finally broken with a great effort from the OMBAC center to score a try with only six minutes remaining. The OMBAC conversion was once again no good, but OMBAC had a slim 20-19 lead.
For the next five and a half minutes, LARC was unable to advance the ball into OMBAC territory due to a solid OMBAC defense and good tactical kicking. LA got one last possession of the ball just across the OMBAC ten-meter line. Tonga attempted a drop goal, but a charging defender blocked the kick. A hustling Hunter was able to scoop up the loose ball, and he chewed up meters like he had all game. Hunter offloaded just before a tackle at the 50-meter line to center Johnny. With a nifty side step, Johnny broke through the OMBAC defensive line, and the race was on. Johnny drew a defender and passed to Big Bruce. Bruce found the hustling winger Omar, who got the ball to about 15 meters from the try line. Omar dashed for the corner, but the OMBAC fullback had the angle to knock him out of bounds before the try line. Luckily for LARC, Omar watched “Top Gun” the previous night. He applied Maverick’s signature move to the rugby pitch--he “put on the breaks and let’em fly right by.” The defender flew out of bounds, and Omar dashed into the try zone untouched. That score sealed the LARC come-from-behind victory, 24-20. With its first league win against OMBAC in over 20 years, this historic victory earned LARC a top spot and a chance at the Ganey Cup Championship as top seed against 2007 Super League Champion Belmont Shore on February 16, 2008, at 1:00 p.m. See you there!
