For the first time in the history of the Summit boys rugby club, the Tigers hosted a home game in Summit County at Summit High School on Saturday, April 15.

With fresh snow being scraped off the turf field minutes before the game, Summit and Parker’s Titan Rugby Club braved the colder spring temperatures and began Summit’s inaugural home game.

The two teams exchanged a few sloppy possessions to begin the match, but soon senior Jack Hodge booted the ball down the field for a strong opportunity near Summit’s try line. 

The Tigers failed to score on their first opportunity of the game, and the Titans responded by possessing the ball for several minutes in front of their own try line. 

Summit held the Titans from scoring for several minutes and eventually took possession of the ball and move the ball away from the Titans’ try line. 

The Titans continued to dominate possession of the ball and eventually were successful in scoring a try. With a successful conversion, the Titans led 7-0.

Senior GC Martinez upped the intensity for Summit after the Titans’ try by scrounging for tackles and attempting to get some sort of offense going. 

Despite Summit’s heightened effort, the Titans extended its lead to 14-0 to head into halftime.

With team members visibly frustrated with their play in the first half, the Tigers took the field in need of an early second half try. They began the fresh half with an influx of energy, but continued to struggle to possess the ball for longer than a few minutes. 

With a strong drive from the Titans, Summit allowed a third try to trail 21-0. 

The Titans closed out the match by preventing Summit from driving towards its own try line and attempting to run up the score. 

The Titans used their size and speed to cut through the Summit defense to score four more times before the final whistle. 

Summit lost 40-0 to the Titans and will now enter a bye week for spring break.

“We were on our heels the whole match and that is a tough way to play rugby,” French said. “The team gave it their all. The boys played hard and we learned a lot.That is just the way rugby is. Until your rugby IQ goes up and you get the experience with everything, you are inexperienced. Good teams like this team took advantage of it and made us work, we made them work and we just came up short.”

After the game, French and the Summit boys rugby team also felt grateful for the fans that came out on a snowy afternoon to support their local rugby team.

“It is a joy to have,” French said of the support. “I was out here at 8:30 and it was snowing hard, I was out with the guys plowing and look at it, it is beautiful. All the teams are playing, everybody made it and it’s been a great day.”

Later on in the afternoon, Summit hosted a match between PAC Rugby Club and Aspen Rugby Club. PAC defeated Aspen, 38-7.

Summit host its last match of the season on Saturday, April 29. The Tigers will host three other teams and is set to face Dakota at 1:15 p.m. at Summit High School. A match will also take place at noon against PAC Rugby Club and the Titan Rugby Club. 

Spectators and fans are encouraged to attend.