On March 31, South Jersey had their Spring Season home opener against perennial Met NY Div II powerhouse, Monmouth.  On a windy, cool day a new look Devils took the field featuring 7 A side players who were not involved with the club last Fall.  Making their debuts were locks Brian Nace and Frank Coco, flanker Rinnie Latini, 8man Gerrit van der Merwe, flyhalf Kevin O'Brien, center Vinny Santangelo and fullback Mike Kuzniar.  Also back from an injury layoff that cut short his Fall season was winger Jeff Pastava.
 
The Devils came out of the box well and immediately moved play into the Monmouth half.  Unfortunately, after a period of pressure lasting 5 minutes the Devils failed to score.  The best opportunity occurred when Phil Wright made a gutsy steal of a tackled ball and then went on a 40 meter winding run only to get hauled down short of the line. 
 
After the initial forays into the Monmouth half, play inexorably moved back inside the Devil 22 meter line.  The pack struggled with set pieces all afternoon.  Van der Merwe, in a fantastic debut, did his best under trying circumstances as scrums were wheeled by the more experienced and technically sounder Monmouth forwards resulting in turnovers or poor ball for the backs.  The lineouts simply didn't function for long periods of play.  Without first phase possession, the offense couldn't fire.  In fact, truth be told, there was no offense to speak of for the entire 80 minutes. 
 
It is to the Devils great credit then that they held Monmouth to a measly 5 points for 75 minutes.  The defense was immense.  No one was more impressive that Kevin O'Brien who repeatedly slammed shut gaps and nailed Monmouth runners trying to break the gainline.  His tackle count at halftime was too high for me to keep count of accurately.
 
For nearly 15 minutes before halftime the Devils were pinned inside their own 22 meter line and yet never allowed a single linebreak.  Employing their drift defense, South Jersey completely frustrated Monmouth who could not score despite retaining possession through phase after phase.  The discipline and work rate of the whole XV was phenomenal.  Alas, too much pressure eventually leads to points.  After endless pressure, Monmouth eventually scored from a series of forward pick-and-go's.
 
Undaunted, the Devils continued to play staunch defense and denied Monmouth anymore scoring opportunities in the half.  A scoring opportunity arouse minutes after the Monmouth try when scrumhalf Alex Diaz cleverly spied space down the rightwing and kicked deftly over the defense.  Sadly, the chase was not what it should have been and the chance was lost.
 
Shortly before halftime, however, superman in a rugby jersey (aka Mike Rimositis) picked up a loose pass and raced 80 meters for a try under the posts.  Monmouth were completely deflated to find themselves down 7-5 at halftime despite having had all of the possession and field position in the half. 
 
In keeping with his policy of rotation in order to develop overall team depth as well as positional flexibility, Coach Wilson made several substitutions at halftime.
 
The second half was unfortunately a repeat of the first.  No first phase possession, endless periods of defense and inability to get the offense going.  Fortunately Monmouth were stupid enough to continue running the ball at Rimositis who picked up another bad pass to cruise 70 meters for his second try.
 
Better yet, within 5 minutes Monmouth was back knocking at the Devils tryline when a spilled pass was intercepted by Santangelo who sprinted toward the Monmouth tryzone 90 meters away.  Luck was not with the Devils though as he had a wardrobe malfunction when he literally ran out of the seams of his cleats with 20 meters remaining.  The corner-flagging Monmouth fullback was able to make a last gasp desperate tackle to deny the try.
 
Despite enormous efforts, no more scoring opportunities came the Devils way.  With only minutes remaining, Monmouth had a scrum on the Devils 22 meter line.  An apparent miscommunication led to one backline player rushing up while his partners drifted -thus leaving a huge gap for Monmouth to shoot through for a try out wide.  Monmouth's kicker then made an unbelievable conversion into the wind to level the scores.  And thus it ended.
 
While not an ideal start to the season, a great deal of heart can be taken from the effort and discipline of the team.  The defense was top notch.  Only one mental error occurred on defense in 80 minutes.  That's a credit to the whole side.
 
The scrambling defense of backs Pastava, Santangelo and Rimositis saved countless situations.  In the forwards, co-men-of-the-match Brian Nace and Phil Wright were tireless in defense.  Second half replacement Phil Gambino also did exceptionally well to stabilize the set pieces to the point where the Devils did start to secure first phase possession near the end.
 
Although it may have looked ragged at times, there are certainly signs that the future is bright for this group.

Tries - Mike Rimositis (2)
Conversions - Mike Kuzniar 1
Final Score 12-12
Man of the match shared by Phil Wright and Brian Nace

B Game

The B side consisted of a mixture of young, enthusiastic newcomers, A siders playing a second game and a few geriatrics.
The Devils showed great heart in scoring four tries before eventally conceding the winning try late in the second half.
 
This was a surprisingly physical B game with several big hits going in early.  Early on, the Devils put pressure on Monmouth that resulted in a turnover.  The ball was then shoveled (what Scott Wilson was doing at scrumhalf cannot be considered "passing" under any definition) to Phil Gambino 20 meters from Monmouth's line.  Gambino must have been watching NFL films the night before as he did an imitation of Walter Payton vs. the Detroit Lions and ran over what appeared to be the entire Monmouth team before dotting down for a great try.  Although it could not be confirmed on the video replay, some observers swear he threw a head fake as well.
 
After two quick Monmouth tries, the Devils fired back from a scrum on halfway near the right touchline.  The scrum was wheeled but Wilson took it weak and fed winger Tyrell Walton who scrambled 50 meters to set up the Devils second try.
 
Prior to that, the Devils were having severe offensive difficulties thanks to the 8man/scrumhalf combination of John Olsen and Scott Wilson.  Despite 300 years of combined rugby experience, both appeared to be seeing a rugby ball for the first time in their lives.  Flyhalf Tom Ferrari pointedly did not buy either of them a beer after the game.  (Then again, he was still suffering post-traumatic stress from the hits he took waiting for the lollipop passes from Wilson to reach him.  Some of those doozies had hang-time on them.)  Mercifully, Wilson went off prior to half time with what appeared to be either an early onset of tuberculosis or just simple general decrepitude.  Either way, the team played much better thereafter.
 
A second half try from debutant Stu Ducker kept the Devils in it.  Close to the end the Devils drove toward the Monmouth tryzone and came away with the points when Bobby Angelo dotted down.  This was a real tribute to Bob's dedication as he previously played the A game as well.
 
It was a great try but the Devils came up just short on the scoreboard.  Nevertheless, a well-played game.

Tries - Phil Gambino, Tom Ferrari, Will Barry, Bob Angelo
Conversions - Tom Ferrari (3)
Final Score - SJ 26 Monmouth 33