Wake up, it’s rugby season again
“Wake up, it’s rugby season again.”
That’s what members of the Santa Monica Dolphins rugby club were saying Saturday as they began the 2013 campaign with a match against the Ventura County Outlaws.
The Dolphins took down the Outlaws 64-11 on a cloudy Saturday afternoon to move to 1-0 on the preseason.
The match was seen as a tune up for the Dolphins as they go ahead with preparations for their 2013 division one SCRFU season which begins January 5th.
With the game tight through the 37th minute, Dave Martini of the Dolphins put in a try from a quick lineout to bring the score to 21-5 and it was smooth sailing from there for Santa Monica. The Dolphins proceeded to put in seven more tries while Ventura hit two penalty kicks to bring the final score to 64-11.
“It’s a good start to the season.” Santa Monica Director of Rugby Doug Bratcher said after the game. ”We still have a lot of work to do to get where we want to be at the end of the season though.”
The Dolphins head into the 2013 season with high hopes after finishing third in the Southern California Rugby Union last year with a record of 5-4-1.
Santa Monica looks to contend on a national scale this year and unfortunately didn’t escape unscathed from Saturday’s match as a few players including Scrum Half Andy O’ Conner went down due to injury.
“In a pair of games like today’s,” said Bratcher, “The goal is to play your pattern of rugby and get through 160 minutes without any injuries. We had a couple of guys who will be evaluated this week and hope we can get them back on the field shortly.”
The Dolphins first league match comes January 5th against defending division one national champions Belmont Shore.
By David Cohen
Santa Monica Roster: 1)Cancelmo, Patric (Hill, Daniel @ 40); 2) King, Patrick (Cancelmo @ 70); 3) Silverman, Ross; 4) Winter, Zac; 5) Davis, Aaron (Cohen, Dave @ 60); 6) Regal, Brian (Williams, Sion @ 60); 7) Yosida, Stephen (Manavian, Taylor @ 40); 8) Aseme, Ken ( C ); 9) O’Connor, Andy (Cooley, Pierce @ 8; Roussett, Renaud @ 60); 10) O’Shea, Brian; 11) Martini, Dave (Serfoss, Kelly @ 40); 12) Gibbon, Alan (Lee, Shawn @ 60); 13) Morales, Shane; 14) Pypers, Sean; 15) Ross, Ali (Cremin, Padraig @ 60)
Scoring:
SMRC- 64
Tries(10): Gibbon; Pypers; Martini (2); Morales; Serfoss (2); Silverman; Williams; Cremin
Conversions (7): O’Shea 7/10
Ventura- 10
Tries (1)
Conversions (0)
Penalties (2)
