September 8, 2007
A sunny late summer afternoon in southeast Minnesota provided the perfect backdrop for the past Saturday’s rugby match. The hosting Rochester Rogues kicked-off to the St. Paul Jazz Pigs, opening the 2007 Minnesota Division III autumn season. St. Paul, coming off a 2006 season which featured a first round playoff exit, took early control driving deep into Rogue territory. Both sides used strength to contest early rucks resulting in several quick possession changes. Finally gaining ground, the Pigs stole a Rochester line-out. Three phases later, winger Diego Bonita blasted through from ten meters for the first try. A Scott Colby drop-kick conversion made it 7-0 for the visitors. The second Pig try came in the 16th minute when scrummy Jason “Ponch” Rombalski ripped a ball out to fly-half Colby who pitched it back inside to a ramming Chris Ries, making it 12-0. Rochester stormed right back. A mandatory Dingo try in the 24th minute made it 12-7, and it seemed as the tide might start turning. Possession see-sawed up and down the pitch for nearly ten minutes before Pig fullback Neil Pietila broke through passing to a juggling Grant Dietrich, who passed back to Neil crossing the goal line. With Neil converting his own try, the score became 19-7. Right before the intermission, St. Paul forced Rochester to kick from inside their 22. A retreating Mike “Buca” Lundberg returned the kick, passing the ball to Danny Kieffer, finding captain Josh Van Gelder inside to touch it down. Neil’s conversion made it 26-7 to end the first half.
Rolling in the second half, winger Andy Schwartz stole a ball out of a Rochester ruck. With a couple of phases, fly-half Colby popped a kick and Grant sprinted touching it down between the pipes (Neil added the conversion). In the 51st minute, Seth Spreadbury intercepted a errant Rochester pass. With two phases, Colby crashed to the try-zone in making it 38-7. With the scoring not finished, Grant sprinted down deep into the Rogue end. Quick ball gave Mark “Fishbowl” Frederickson a try off the back of a ruck (kick converted). Rochester scored a second mandatory Dingo try, and the score was 45-14. The blemish does not hurt the Pigs who stole one final scrum. Ryan “Hightower” Backman gathered the ball, passing it to rookie Andy Schwartz for his Zulu. Danny added a final try in the 80th minute making the final 57-14. In all, nine different Pigs scored tries in a good team effort.
Line Up:
1.Chris Johnson (Joe Huberty, Cory Becker), 2. Alan Martin, 3. Joe Exner (Ben Hanson), 4. Chris Ries, 5. Mark Frederickson, 6. Nicholas Bannon (Ryan Backman), 7. Chris Swanson (Danny Keiffer), 8. Josh Van Gelder (captain), 9. Jason Rombalski, 10. Scott Colby, 11. Andy Schwartz, 12. Mike Lundberg (Nate Riedel), 13. Seth Spreadbury, 14. Diego Bonita (Grant Dietrich), 15. Neil Pietila
Scoring:
Tries: Bonita, Ries, Pietila, Van Gelder, Dietrich, Colby, Frederickson, Schwartz, Kieffer
Consversions: Colby, Pietila (4), Van Gelder
B-Side
St. Paul vs. Winona State
?? 19-33
In the B-side match the Pigs took on a tough Winona State team and lost by 3 tries to 5 – further info and try scorer listings to come. Maybe.