Battered and bruised: The Rhino Ruggers pose with their trophy after a sucessful weekend.

Despite being the scrappiest team at the Teapot Dome Scandal Rugby Tournament last Saturday, lacking a coach, boasting few subs and ending the day with only three uninjured players, the Oberlin Rhino Ruggers wowed everyone with a “Disney movie” triumph into second place.

Due to a scheduling change at the last minute, Oberlin was required to play more games than any other team, winning three games in a row, and losing only to the nationally ranked Ohio State A-side team.

The day started with Oberlin’s game against Wittenberg, the top-ranked Division III team in the state. Oberlin lost to Wittenberg in the championship game of the Mudpig Classic Rugby Tournament last fall.

Wittenberg scored a try early in the first half but missed the conversion kick. The Rhinos were slightly nervous to be down by five, but first-year flyhalf Sam Schongalla responded with her first of two tries of the game, then made the two-point conversion kick, moving the Rhinos into the lead.

Junior center April Gentile-Miserandino, playing her first game with Oberlin in a year after competing last fall in New Zealand, scored a try as well, leading to a final score of 21-15.

Energized by their initial victory yet lacking any time to rest, the Rhinos quickly dispelled any doubts about who was to dominate their next game, which pitted Oberlin against their first Big Ten opponent of the day, Purdue University.

Junior fullback Magdalen Dale, with her signature speed and stiff-arm tackle-breaking, scored three of Oberlin’s four tries of the game. Schongalla, who was not to miss a kick all day, made all the conversions and scored a try of her own.

One of the more bizarre injury treatments prescribed during the day was when sophomore eight-man Jenny Kraft convinced senior center Rebecca Jones to eat mustard near the sideline during a break in play, assuring her that it would alleviate leg cramps.

The scrum, appreciating the support of their devoted fan, Lex Sheely from Miami University, showed its strength by wheeling the Purdue scrum several times and holding Purdue at the 5-meter line for several continuous drives.

“The scrum in that game brought tears to my eyes,” sophomore rookie Jody Ahlm said.

The Rhinos held Purdue scoreless for nearly the entire game, allowing only one try and tallying a final 28-5 victory.

Oberlin showed its real grit and underdog glory in the game against the Ohio State B-side team. Facing their third game in as many hours, the Rhinos — now down to one sub, as players suffered sprained ankles, concussions and missing contact lenses — stepped it up to meet the challenge of opponents that attempted to intimidate with their matching pant and jacket warm-ups.

The Rhinos remained scoreless in the first half, but their defense, led by speedster tacklers Kraft and first-year flanker Kym Buzdygon, fended off a series of attacking plays while giving up only one try.

In the second half, Gentile-Miserandino scored on a break-away after receiving a well-placed pass from Jones, bringing the Rhinos into the lead. Feeling more confident at this point, the Rhinos had to deal with a controversial call that awarded a try to OSU-B, despite a good play by sophomore scrumhalf Ilan Harris.

The Rhinos were down 10-7, but in the last play of the game Gentile-Miserandino came through with another break-away try, sending the Rhinos to the championship game.

Arriving at the championship game was more than the Rhinos had hoped for, and with the majority of the team beginning their fourth game without any substitution, many of them felt a need for survival.

“It’s more about surviving than anything else,” sophomore hooker Daviel Shy said.

Despite facing sheer exhaustion, suffering more probable concussions and vomiting from the flu, the Rhinos put up a tough fight, brushing off continual comments from the referees that “it’s really okay if you want to call the game.”

Schongalla once again put points on the board with an incredible 37-meter kick, prompting a stunned reaction by the New Zealander OSU B-side coach. “Not even the guys I’ve seen can kick like that, not even in New Zealand!” he said.

As the game ended and the rain began to fall, the Rhinos collected their hard-earned trophy, still in awe of their success. When handing over the trophy, the ref scanned the rag-tag team and asked, “So where’s your coach?”

“We don’t have one,” the team said in union, with more pride than it had ever displayed before. Watch the Rhinos’ last game of the season as they take on Cleveland Women at home this Saturday, May 8, at 11 a.m. in the North Fields.

Senior Rebecca Jones is a member of the women’s rugby team.