Colby played in the Beast of the East college Rugby tournament in Middletown, RI this past weekend.  It is possibly the largest Rugby tournament in the US with over 100 teams competing in D1, D2 and D3 categories for men and women.  Sue and I headed up to watch and hang out with the other parents in Portsmouth and Newport.

They won their first two game in the qualifying brackets in dominating fashion,  36-0 over Wentworth and 31-0 over Fitchburg St. to get into the quarterfinals. Kyle started his first game of the season against Fitchburg St.  It was a thrill for all of us!   You will see him with his "flow" and blue, white and black taped headband.

In the quarterfinals Colby met Vassar,  who beat Central Conn and Mass Maritime to make their way into the quarterfinals. Colby defeated Vassar handily, 24-10 and Kyle got more playing time. 

In the semifinals Colby met their arch nemesis, U of Maine, who is rated #5 in the country, and who Colby upset last fall (during parents weekend - it was thrilling).  The semifinal matchup was a hard fought battle and it didn't help that it seemed the referee was a U Maine fan, and one of the Colby players was stretchered off in an ambulance with a neck injury (he's OK - swollen spine, but no longer term damage or broken bones).  U Maine ended up defeating Colby 17-10 in the semifinals and went on to win the championship game over New Haven 24-0. 

Colby should improve on their national ranking which was 21st coming into the tournament.  They lost narrowly to Tufts, the #2 rated team, last fall in the playoffs for the national tournament.  Here is a link to the rankings - Top 50 rugby rankings

Attached is a slide show of about 100 photos of the 4 matches.  Enjoy!