MONTREAL (HBS RFC Press) – The HBS Rugby Team remained undefeated in international play with a 43-0 demolishing of McGill University’s MBA Rugby Team over the Columbus Day weekend. After warm-up games against the Irish Wolfhounds and Seacoast Men’s Club, featuring dominating performances by Julian Coulter (NG), Nam Kry (NC) and David Merle (NF), HBS opened international play against the touring Bermuda Police Department Rugby Club on Sunday, September 30th. Superb tacklers Barry Horgan (OD) and Anthony Carango (NA) clamped down hard on Bermuda star Pogo, limiting him to a single try. HBS stole victory from the jaws of defeat in the final minutes of the match, despite the partial calls of the referee.
The victory over Bermuda was the perfect hors d’oeuvre for a Canadian Thanksgiving feast of a match at McGill. Welcoming the men from HBS into town the night before the match, McGill dug out the oldest trick in the rugby playbook – having the backup team take the visitors out for a night on the town while the first string stayed in and got a good night’s rest. HBS countered in true rugby fashion with superior partying skills, which had been practiced rigorously at Shay’s in the weeks before. These superior skills held through to the next day’s match, as HBS took control from the start. Dominating the scrums were “tight five” Claude London (OA), Anthony Carango (NA), Derek Mendez (ND), Baron Hanson (FAS), and Tucker Bailey (NB). Sean Gass (OA) played a perfect game at the 8-spot, feeding the backs Dann Angeloff (OA), Chris Brezski (OC), Joshua Hall (NF), Shoney Katz (NC), and David Miller (NB).
Scoring came early and often. Tucker Bailey broke the game open early with a brilliant try along the wing, barreling over at least three McGill defenders. Josh Hall was not far behind, as he recounted vividly in the post-game press conference: “during a scrum near their try line, McGill put-in. [Anthony] Carango stole the ball from their hooker, and fed it back to [Sean] Gass at 8. He picked up the ball and ran towards the try line. McGill’s flanker attempted to tackle him, but Gass was able to pass it off to me, and I ran in for a try.” The tries kept coming in the second half, as Chris Brezski passed to Shoney Katz, who fed it to David Miller, who then used his patented “deceptively slow spin move” to elude a McGill defender and reach the try-zone and score his first points in a HBS uniform. Dann Angeloff made the most of his opportunities, outmaneuvering McGill for a few spectacular tries to further put the game out of reach.
After the match, HBS and McGill enjoyed a friendly banquet at the local pub, where HBS further dominated in Boat Races and Sean Gass took home “Man of the Match” honors on the HBS side for his dominant rugby play overall. Later that night, HBS took in the local culture at the Montreal Centre for Performing Arts, and then stole the show as featured singers in the George Clooney “Sit-down Comedy” benefit at Club Wanda, Montreal’s most famous Comedy and Performing Arts Club.
Up next for HBS Rugby is a home match vs. Mystic River (10/13), followed by games at South Shore (10/20) and Boston (10/27). If you’re interested in joining the HBS Rugby Club, please send an e-mail to dangeloff@mba2002.hbs.edu.
