Rugby…the sport for barbarians played by gentlemen!
By Leon Dhemba
Again alliances were formed for the Intervarsity Rugby match. The Intervarsity rugby match is when the residents of Robert Menzies College (RMC) and Dunmore Lang College (DLC) join to take on UNSW’s Werrane College and New College. This is a rare encounter where the colleges partner in a sports match and it was one of the best teams yet. With sport and its competitive nature between the colleges you would think is wasn’t possible, but it is!
This year we came agonizingly close, being edged out by a meagre 3 points courtesy of a late try by UNSW’s colleges – 3 points, so close!
The combined RMC-DLC team comprised of Student President Leon Dhemba, James Ridge, David Cant and Jim Johnston from the RMC side with DLC filling the rest of the team. If you thing that its hard being outside on a 31deg day try training in it! However, there were days of reprieve with some cool and cloudy weather.
RMC and DLC don’t often work together where sport is concerned, but on the rare occasion we do there is often mixed outcomes but on this occasion, the team had a wide variety of great talents which melded well together. Guided by members of the Macquarie University Rugby Club, the combined team set forth to try and reclaim the shield from the UNSW team.
The game was held on a sunny Saturday afternoon, the 10th of October, and wasn’t short of supporters. The colleges gathered and after being promised a round of drinks by Leon, were suitably fired up! Led by DLC’s Nick Brown, the team had a rather slow start, conceding an early try, with a missed conversion. A few injuries brought the team numbers down. The games were played in 15 minute quarters, so UNSW had the lead by the end of the first. The RMC-DLC team came out all guns blazing in the second half, playing well but conceded a second try. Towards the end of the quarter though, they brought a try back and converted. In the third, the RMC-DLC team scored again, but missed the conversion. The lead was 12-10 going into the 3rd. The third was exciting but provided no scores and then the fourth saw RMC-DLC holding on for dear life, unfortunately the UNSW team scored towards the end of the fourth quarter, missing the conversion again. The final score an agonizing 15-12, UNSW retaining the shield after a valiant effort.
