Saturday, November 5th the Pigs entered the playoffs for the 7th consecutive year, the longest streak amongst all Minnesota Men’s Clubs.  To open the playoffs they would be taking on the Green Bay Celtics for the 4th time over the past six seasons.  The Celtics have had the Pigs number in beating them on the previous three meetings, however this year the Pigs felt their hard work throughout the Summer and Fall would push them ahead.

The game time temperature was an unseasonably 56 degrees, with a very strong wind heading from goal post to goal post.  This wind would be an obvious factor in the game.  The fans were out in droves to see this powerhouse matchup.  Green Bay won the toss the elected to take the wind in the second half with the Pigs taking the kickoff in the first half.

The Pigs opened with a magnificant kickoff from Padre that Pigs jumped up and took away from Green Bay at the start.  This help dictate the begining of the match.  At the 15th minute, the ball found Rubber’s hands, taking a hit he off loaded to Goose, who in turn found Zeth storming down the sideline and into the try zone for the first score.  The wind making kicking difficult, didn’t allow Padre to make the conversion.  Score 5-0.

At the 18th minute, the Pigs had a penalty at the 35 meter line.  With the strong wind Padre felt as though this was a kick he could make, however the ball sailed slightly to the left post.  Score remained 5-0.  At the 25th minute of play, the Celtics found the corner of the try zone, missing the conversion brough the score to 5-5.

The Pigs continued to push against the Green Bay defense.  The had pushed Green Bay deep into their own end.  Green Bay was awarded a 5 meter scrum, not much of an award when you have Bauer breathing down your neck.  Bauer burst through the scrum and stole the ball scoring under the posts, with the conversion we came to half time with a 12-5 Pigs lead.

The wind would become a huge issue in the second half.  It was blowing at a steady 20 mph, which would push the Celtics deep into the Pigs end to start the second half.  Solid defense keep the Celtics out of the try zone and a misake by Green Bay gave the Pigs the ball back.  Little by little the Pigs would slowly begin pushing the ball out of their end.  After driving 60 meters, Green Bay would utilize the wind and boom the ball back deep inside the Pigs 22.  Some nifty runs by the Pigs back line continued to relieve the pressure, however the wind allowed Green Bay to push the ball again back inside the Pigs 22.

The Pigs dominated the second half of play both offensively and defensively, but the score remained the same at the final whistle, 12-5.

A great team win for the Pigs… and some needed rest for a team until playoffs resume in April

Scoring:

Tries:  Seth Spreadbury, Zac Bauer

Conversions:  Padre (1 for 2)

Penalties:  Padre (1 for 3)

Big Hitter:  Aaron Johnson

Man of the Match:  Dietrich Peterson

On a gorgeous day for rugby the Pigs traveled to historic Faribault to play the final league game and their final tune-up before the 2011 playoffs. The league game would be against the Faribault Box Spring and Carleton College would be providing a second game. 

The Pigs went on to a lopsided victory with Faribault’s only tri being scored by Twinkie (a Pigs prop).  First year Piggie, Curtis had a breakout day scoring 5 tries and being involved in numerous other scoring plays setting up other scores.  The victory was big, however the Pigs felt unsatisfied as they knew that the lack of intensity, emotion, and fire would not fly in playoffs.   

The Pigs had a following game against Carleton. The game was a fun, competitive, close game. The Pigs/Bombers provided great intensity and dominant ball control leading them to a victory. 

 Achievements: 

-Man of the Match: Will “Boxcar” Gilman 

-Big Hitter: Paul ‘Potato Sally’ Fannin 

-Bombers Man of the Match: Joe ‘Rubber’ Lang 

The Pigs and Bottomfeeders both came into the match with a 3-0 record.  Both teams being playoff bound with the winner getting home field throughout the first two rounds of the playoffs.  This would be the biggest match between these two teams to date.  The Pigs having been beaten by the Feeders in the Spring were ready for revenge.

The game started with the Bottomfeeders quickly pushing the ball into the Pigs end.  The Pigs were not where they wanted to be, having to play defensively right from the kickoff.  However the Pigs defense held strong and didn’t allow the Feeders into the try zone.

The Pigs quickly pushed back in the 10th minute.  Rubber was running with the ball and was quickly swarmed by the Feeder’s backline.  Having played many years together, Dietrich saw the gleam in Rubber’s eye and knew what was coming next.  Rubber place a  perfect pop kick over the back line, that Dietrich pursued.  The ball was caught by the Feeders fullback, who saw Dietrich in pursuit.  Instead of face the pressure of Dietrich the fullback attempted to kick the ball out of the back of the try zone.  The ball didn’t make it, but Dietrich did, putting the first points on the board.

Padre missed the conversion, but made it up on a penalty kick soon after.  The score now read 8-0.  The next try was a bute, as Cros took the ball straight through 5 defenders and over the try line, with the conversion the score now was 15-0 going into half time.  The Feeders were obviously winded, with Pigs ready for more.

The second half opened with a new Circus play the Pigs back line had been working on for the past few weeks.  Padre flipped the ball to Dietz, who scooped it up off the turf and switched it to Lauren who in turn switched it over to Zeth.  Zeth had no intensions on passing any further.  Leaving a pile of carnage behind, Zeth took the ball in to bring the score to 20-0.

The backline was now on a roll.  The next try was beautifully run as the backline ran the ball through the defense with Aaron flipping the ball to Dietrich just before being tackled.  Dietrich was able to run just outside the reach of the Feeders backline and scored between the uprights.  The next try found Dietz on a breakaway with one man to beat.  He nearly broke free, but was grabbed at the last second.  As he was getting taken to the deck, he gracefully popped the ball up to Dietrich who was again off to the races.  With the conversions from Padre the final score read 34-0.  With one match remaining the Pigs are in a great position to go undefeated in league play.

The Bombers took the field for the next match.  Great play by the bombers young and old.  It’s been a long time since any of us have seen so many great rugby players wearing red and black on the field.

Scoring:

Tries:  Martin (1), Spreadbury (1), Dietrich (3)

Conversions:  Boardman (3 for 5)

Penalties:  Boardman (1 for 1)

Pigs Man of the Match:  Seth Spreadbury

Bombers Man of the Match:  Greg Lehmicke

Big Hitter:  Aaron DM Princess

Hot off their win versus the Banshees, the Pigs headed down to Rochester to take on the Rouges.  The weather was unseasonably warm, with temeratures nearing 85 degrees.  A great day for rugby.    The Pigs continuing to grow in numbers, showed up with 30 men ready to play some ball.

The match started with a quick try from Aaron and a penalty kick from Padre, giving the Pigs an early 1o-0 lead.  Rochester stormed back and closed the gap to 10-7.  With a lapse in defence the Rouges scored again to give them the lead 10-12.  Determined not to be down at half Rubber took the ball across the try line to take the lead back 17-12.  The Pigs had the first half lead, but were not happy with their play.

The second half the Pigs fitness took over.  The Rouges were obviously winded, while the Pigs continued to push into their end.  A second try by Rubber, a try by Zeth, and a penalty kick by Padre gave the Pigs a 34-20 win on the day.

The Bombers followed the Pigs with a win against Rochester B.  Good play by everyone on the day.

Scoring:

Tries:  Aaron, Seth Spreadberry, Joe Lang (2)

Penalties:  Zac Boardman (2 for 2)

Conversions:  Zac Boardman (4 for 4)

Man of the Match Pigs:  Zac Boardman

Big Hitter Pigs:  LauKahonen

Man of the Match Bombers:  Tony

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The Pigs won their first round of playoffs, 12-5 against the Green Bay Celtics.  Great win for the Pigs squad.  Our next playoff match will be at home on April 14th versus Fond Du Lac.  The full match report can be found here.