Harlequins U23s Undefeated in Cowtown

Tournament report by Michael Engelbrecht

This past weekend saw the Harlequin U23 side go undefeated to win the 2004 Cowtown Classic Collegiate Premier Division. The U23 side, a good mix of youth (high school) and experience (college age), continued the Harlequin tradition of winning tournaments. The Quin U23’s entered in the top collegiate bracket in a round robin format against Texas A&M, University of Texas, and Baylor. The two top performers would then meet in the Collegiate Premier final. As it turned out, going into the final pool game against Baylor, the Quins and Baylor were positioned in the top two positions on the log and decided that their pool game would also count as the final. 

First up for the U23’s was a formidable Texas A&M side. The A&M side looks poised for great things over the next few years as they have youth, size, and numbers on their side. Both teams played good rugby keeping the ball close to the forwards as the early morning game was played on a rather damp pitch under very gusty conditions. The U23’s, playing uphill and into the wind, were first on the scoreboard from a nice kick (grubber) and chase from outside center Brandant Cruz. Flyhalf Keegan Engelbrecht, still hampered by an ankle injury, missed the conversion but did reply to the single A&M score to convert on three penalty attempts and a very cheeky drop goal to put the game out of reach.

The Quin U23’s then faced a very spirited University of Texas side. Again, playing the first half going uphill and into the wind, the Quins were quick to get points on the board via tries by Keegan Engelbrecht and the hardworking blindside flanker Louis Wolmarans. The Quin defense was severely tested out wide by the free flowing wide open game played by the Longhorns. The Quin power and support play were just too much for the Longhorns as openside flanker and captain Jason Engelbrecht scored a quick brace of tries to seal victory.

The final game of the day counted as both a pool game and the championship game as both Baylor and the Quin U23’s were positioned at the top of the log. Rather than having to play each other again an hour later, both teams agreed that their contest would count as the championship game. The U23’s, again playing uphill and into the wind, had their work cut out for them as Baylor used their size and speed to continually break the gain line both close to the rucks and in the midfield. A number of very suspect referee decisions caused the blood pressure of both teams to rise – Baylor handled this a lot better than the youthful U23’s and scored a well worked try against a confused and frustrated Quin defense. The Quin never say die attitude enabled them to stay in the game by answering back with a first half try of their own. Scrumhalf Tim Robinson had a fantastic day, and in this instance, weaving through the Baylor defense to dot down close to the posts allowing an easy conversion by Keegan Engelbrecht. The second half belonged to the Quins. After a calming halftime chat by coaches Brett Pedersen and Michael Engelbrecht, the U23’s used the pitch gradient and wind to the fullest by playing rugby in Baylor’s half of the field. Captain Jason Engelbrecht was again on hand to touch down twice in quick succession to really take the fight out of a much larger Baylor team. Keegan Engelbrecht made one of the conversions with Brandant Cruz adding a penalty.

Harlequin U23 (17) versus Texas A&M (5)
Tries: Brandant Cruz
Conversions:
Penalties: Keegan Engelbrecht (3)
Drop Goals: Keegan Engelbrecht

Harlequin U23 (22) versus University of Texas (7)
Tries: Keegan Engelbrecht, Louis Wolmarans, Jason Engelbrecht (2)
Conversions: Brandant Cruz
Penalties: 
Drop Goals: 

Harlequin U23 (22) versus Baylor University (10)
Tries: Timmy Robinson, Jason Engelbrecht (2)
Conversions: Keegan Engelbrecht (2)
Penalties: Brandant Cruz
Drop Goals: 


Dallas Harlequin "B" narrowly defeats the TRU Collegiate Select Side

Texas Collegiate Select side coach and TRU Technical Director Mike Kwedar, in preparing his collegiate select side for the upcoming West RFU Collegiate All Star tournament requested that a friendly be played on the Sunday following the Cowtown tournament against a Harlequin “B” side. Harlequin Colts and U23 coach Michael Engelbrecht complied by fielding a side comprising his top high school players, Quin college age players, a sprinkling of senior experience in the form of Jesse Marshall and Jeremy Eirich, and some real "senior" experience from Dave Care, Dan Gargiulo, and Philip Voss. 

The Texas Collegiate side, fresh off their Cowtown Men’s Open Division championship from the day before were keen to get the game started and played some very enjoyable running rugby using Coach Kwedar’s newly implemented "pod" offense. This offense was used to great success by coaches Kwedar and Engelbrecht while leading the victorious Texas U19 Select Side this past summer. The game turned out to be a very competitive and close fought affair with the Quins emerging winners by scoring two unconverted tries and a drop goal to one converted try.

Coach Michael Engelbrecht summed up the weekend's U23 and Quin "B" activities by stating that the Quin’s 2004/05 Division I and Division II campaign looks to be on solid footing as there are a number of young players raising their hands to compete for starting positions. Engelbrecht states, "Some of these recent high school graduates that are still in the local area, along with some recent additions from other clubs and overseas, are the future of the Harlequins. These younger players need to get every opportunity to play. Their skills and presence are every bit as good as the rest of the non-Super League players".

Dallas Harlequin "B" (13) versus Texas Collegiate Select Side (7)
Tries: Philip Voss, Shawn Jared
Conversions: 
Penalties: 
Drop Goals: Keegan Engelbrecht