Rugby: Newport’s Sharks attack Aztecs alive, routing affirms Back Bay’s dominance in league

NEWPORT BEACH - No. 1-ranked Back Bay Rugby Football Club was surely in the cross hairs of Old Aztec’s Rugby Club on Saturday morning.

The match had all the ingredients for epic confrontation. The recipe: Start with the very aggressive and physical style of play for which the Old Aztecs are known. Next combine the arch rival status of Back Bay and Old Aztecs with the fact that Back Bay came into the match sitting atop a pedestal of an undefeated 5-0 record in league play. Fold into the mix that with each subsequent win by Back Bay, the No. 2-ranked Aztecs’ playoff hopes dwindle. Add a pinch of soreness from the one-point victory that Back Bay dealt to the Aztecs just a few weeks prior, and stir the pot with Back Bay’s swagger from coming off of a combined first team and second team streak of five straight matches without a point scored by an opponent.

Led by head coach, Grant Reynolds, the Back Bay Sharks were apparently well prepared to be in the sights of the Aztecs. A solid game plan and well executed run and gun rugby early in the first half allowed Back Bay to grab the momentum, scoring two tries in the opening ten minutes of the 80-minute melee. (A rugby “try” is a five-point score, similar to a touchdown).

From then it was “All Bay-All Day” and a very long rough afternoon for the Old Aztecs with Back Bay declaring unequivocally their intent to utterly dominate the league. With Sharks executing a superb running game, the Aztecs spent the afternoon just chasing the local Newport boys to the Aztec goal line.

On defense the Sharks ate the Aztecs alive in a feeding frenzy that squelched every effort of the Aztecs to get even one point on the scoreboard. By the end of the first half the Shark’s led, 55-0, and at the final whistle, a resounding 81-0 shutout victory was captured by the Sharks.

A notable performance was given by Eric Hannah, the Back Bay back line player of the day, with his two tries and solid tackling in the open field. Hannah’s defensive pressure on the Old Aztecs back line caused near any Aztec mistake to turn into points for the Sharks. The Argentinean, Sebastian “Sea-bass” Pedreira, at the number 8 spot, played a near flawless game with superb tackling and relentless support. This was the sixth straight win for the Sharks first team and the 11th straight for the club as a whole.

As much as the Aztecs might have liked it to be, the day was not yet over. The Sharks second side was not only also decisively victorious but, not to be outdone by the first side, secured yet another shutout. The third straight second side shutout of the season, the match ended with a final score of 37-0. It appeared that the Aztecs saw the writing on the wall and would submit only to a 60-minute game rather than the standard 80 minutes, a move which blunted the magnitude of the score differential. Tries were scored by Ben Ball, Stanton Sharpe and Ryan Lem, but at the end of the day it was Derek Satterfield who received the Man of the Match award. His tough tackling and support over the entire expanse of the field led the Sharks to victory. The Sharks seconds’ season record stands at 6-0 as is the first team’s.

The Sharks will be playing at home at Peninsula Park next to the Balboa Pier this Saturday, March 14th against the North San Diego County Gurkhas. The match-up is noteworthy as the Gurkhas knocked the Sharks out of playoff contention last year. This season you can bet that the sharks can smell blood in the water. Kick-off will be at 2 p.m. All are invited to support our local boys on their way to a league championship and beyond to the national finals.