On Saturday afternoon, the Hamilton Men’s Rugby Team took on SUNY-Plattsburgh’s rugby team in eighty minutes of heated play. Throughout the whole match, the harsh afternoon sun beat down over the players, but did nothing to deter the Exiles’ spirit despite Plattsburgh’s ever-gaining lead. Despite the team’s best efforts, Plattsburgh won 39–0, but Hamilton’s strong defense ensured that the visitors took no points easily.
The Plattsburgh Cardinals have a great program that has not lost a game in three years, and it was evident from the beginning that Plattsburgh’s men were bigger, stronger, and faster than the Exiles, but strength is not everything. The Cardinals wrestled the ball away from almost every scrum and scored multiple tries through the Exiles’ tough defense. However, Hamilton’s strength lay in its teamwork. Coach John Joseph ensures that teamwork and sportsmanship come first for his team, putting the players first always. According to Noam Barnhard ’18, “Coach has been with us for a while now and has been a tremendous help. The team has spent most of its history without a coach, but he has helped integrate us into a new league, the NSCRO, where we play with better competition.”
Christopher ‘Melo’ Albino ’20, corroborated that the team had grown greatly, remarking that, “We learned to trust in each other. Over the past months, we’ve formed bonds during practice and those bonds really came through when we were out on the field.”
Thus, despite the Exiles’ defeat, the team came out of Saturday’s game fulfilled and optimistic for the future; they held their own against a top-tier rugby team, leaving everything they had out on the field.
It was incredible to watch the dedication and determination with which the Continentals battled under the glaring sun. Rugby is a brutally physical sport by nature, and each one of our guys gave it everything they had. Will Richardson ’21 expressed the toll such exertion has on the body. “When I woke up on Sunday morning, every muscle in my body was sore. Even now, I can hardly lift my arms.” Despite this physical toll, the men went into and came out of the match with unbridled resolve.
Hamilton expected to experience some growing pains this season: “Coming off of last year we lost a lot of our zies and we knew that meant our game would change,” remarked Chris Lovejoy ’18. From the beginning to the end of the game, it was evident how much the Exiles improved. Lovejoy contends that, “We played a great first 40 minutes against a big, hard-hitting team with almost half our starters playing their first game ever,” adding that, “I’m incredibly proud of the way we played and what we’ve learned to work on moving forward.” As the season moves along, the team will undoubtedly continue to hone their skill and teamwork that will lead them to inevitable victory. Albino expressed his confidence, claiming that “We’re gonna get in better shape, stronger and come out with some ‘dubs.”
