Dublin Rebels vs Centre College (Kentucky, USA)

Lothaar v2

The Dublin Rebels are taking on NCAA Div 3 team, Centre College Colonels from Kentucky this Saturday in Seapoint Rugby Club. Kickoff is 3pm and admission is free. We'll have a BBQ serving all sorts of burgery goodness and a full bar.

This should be a cracking game and a great chance to watch college football players up close... for free

More details on the Facebook event page.

JaMarcusHustle

Good stuff, thanks for the head's up. Will be joining a team later in the year/early next year out of sheer boredom so will pop along to this.

helimachoptor

presuming im not sent down to the in laws this weekend ill be up to watch aswell

Dizzicizzi

Sounds like a larf

Lothaar v2

Bumping this thread because the game is on tomorrow!

JaMarcusHustle

That was a good day out, and an entertaining enough game despite the blowout. Centre were just far too big and far too fast. That running back stole the show hands down.

Dohnny Jepp

what was the result

JaMarcusHustle

90-0 according to the Facebook page. I lost count in the 3rd quarter.

Dohnny Jepp

Come on guys, you should have went easy on the Americans. There was no need to beat them so badly.

Lothaar v2

Glad you enjoyed it JaMarcus. The scoreline doesn't really matter - it was just about the experience of playing them. I enjoyed that game immensely.

Howshocowpownw

JaMarcusHustle wrote: »

90-0 according to the Facebook page. I lost count in the 3rd quarter.

Serious ?

helimachoptor

Howshocowpownw wrote: »

Serious ?

Yep, i wasnt able to make it but was reading the fb/twitter updates.

While the Rebels i think are the best Irish team, the college guys have probably being playing football all their lives.

fair play to the rebels for keeping it going

JaMarcusHustle

Howshocowpownw wrote: »

Serious ?

To be fair, it's a minority sport in Ireland. Teams over here are lucky to get full rosters, whereas college teams have the luxury of picking who they want for their teams. They were far bigger and faster than anyone this country has to offer, mainly because they've been playing it since they were kids and it's very much a lifestyle similar to GAA over here. i.e. an Irish team would be extremely lucky to get a 6'3, 300lbs offensive tackle, a college team - even a D3 team like Centre - would be able to choose between 2/3/4 of them. Likewise almost every other position on the field.

The Rebels actually did well to get some of the good plays they got in. There was nice QB sack in the second half, and a nice long completion too (think it was Purdy who caught it?). They also drew a lot of penalties from the Centre Defence too. And there attitude right up until the final whistle was absolutely fantastic - I heard a few of the US contingent say some really nice things as I was walking back to the car afterwards.

jme2010

One thing I noticed was the behavior of the U.S lads. Complete gentlemen. Never argued once with the refs. The Rebels were on their best behavior too but the way some teams treat the officials in this country is disgusting.

Did they call the game a bit early? I know the final PAT was not attempted.

Great game all the same. Well done to the lads for hosting.

Lothaar v2

JaMarcusHustle wrote: »

To be fair, it's a minority sport in Ireland. Teams over here are lucky to get full rosters, whereas college teams have the luxury of picking who they want for their teams. They were far bigger and faster than anyone this country has to offer, mainly because they've been playing it since they were kids and it's very much a lifestyle similar to GAA over here. i.e. an Irish team would be extremely lucky to get a 6'3, 300lbs offensive tackle, a college team - even a D3 team like Centre - would be able to choose between 2/3/4 of them. Likewise almost every other position on the field.

That's spot on. This is a team that can beat some other NCAA Div 3 teams 50-0, so a 90-0 scoreline against an amateur Irish team just makes sense. Nobody other than the refs were even keeping score! For most of the game, their average starting field position was probably our 30-yard line - they scored within a play or two. Ours was more like our own 10 and it was a battle to get the ball into their half (and we did a few times).

In the second half, Centre started drawing a lot of flags. It was weird... must've been less experienced players but they were really obviously hanging out of our receivers. At one stage I threw a pass that smacked off the back of a DB's helmet - he didn't even see it because he was busy holding the TE.

helimachoptor

Who were the officials lothaar? Were the imports or Irish guys?

Lothaar v2

All Irish refs. No team refs, though. It was the guys who do the Shamrock Bowl. Good crew, tbh.

On the earlier question about the game finishing early... we agreed at the start to have 15-min quarters (IAFL games are 12 mins) but to run the clock in the second half if the game dragged on. The average IAFL game runs to about 2hrs 35mins and we didn't want it to last much longer than that for the sake of the spectators. The last play of the game came with just over one minute on the clock (it was a pick-six) and the refs blew it up then.

helimachoptor

any more games planned?

Howshocowpownw

Would they be better off against a high school team ?

JaMarcusHustle

Lothaar v2 wrote: »

At one stage I threw a pass that smacked off the back of a DB's helmet - he didn't even see it because he was busy holding the TE.

My girlfriend found that absolutely hilarious. Myself, I was instantly reminded of this

Lothaar v2

Howshocowpownw wrote: »

Would they be better off against a high school team ?

Depends on what you mean by 'better off'! We'd have a better chance of winning the game, but that wasn't really the point of playing an NCAA team.

JaMarcus - Yeah, it was kinda funny .

Howshocowpownw

Lothaar v2 wrote: »

Depends on what you mean by 'better off'! We'd have a better chance of winning the game, but that wasn't really the point of playing an NCAA team.

JaMarcus - Yeah, it was kinda funny .

Well, still no chance of winning, but at least if it's somewhat competitive the players will gain something. Getting crushed isn't going to do the team any good. Getting crushed is putting it lightly.

Lothaar v2

It depends on the High School, but we'd definitely beat some US High School teams. I played against High School teams before and they're orders of magnitude below NCAA level (as are we).

I'd agree that getting dominated by a far superior opponent doesn't necessarily make you a better player/team. I'd totally disagree that the players didn't gain anything. At the very least, it was a great experience and a lot of fun.

Howshocowpownw

Lothaar v2 wrote: »

It depends on the High School, but we'd definitely beat some US High School teams. I played against High School teams before and they're orders of magnitude below NCAA level (as are we).

I'd agree that getting dominated by a far superior opponent doesn't necessarily make you a better player/team. I'd totally disagree that the players didn't gain anything. At the very least, it was a great experience and a lot of fun.

I agree, I was referring to the playing aspect. Fair play to you for giving it ago anyway.

TO.

Howshocowpownw wrote: »

Would they be better off against a high school team ?

Only thing with High Schools though I doubt this day and age they would allow a team of minors play against a team full of adults.

Umadbrah?

Any other games planned?