Stade Georges Carpentier
U of M had a hard day at the office against Paris-Sorbonne, going down 87-12. The Paris university champions displayed superior ball handling skills to run through the men in blue.
The game started with rousing vocal renditions of the national anthems sung by each team. This clearly inspired each team as the match started at a frantic pace. Sorbonne put the first try on the board, using a large overload to score in the corner with the conversion good. This was the recipe for success for the French squad. They took advantage of an overcommitted Michigan defense on multiple occasions to run out to a 29-0 early lead.
U of M was hard pressed to recover from defensive lapses and this resulted in static offensive possessions. Too often Sorbonne was able to pilfer the ball off of a Michigan ball carrier and put the Maize and Blue back on defense. Eventually, Michigan made a long break from their own half started by Grady Bridges. He found support from Joel Conzelmann and Karl Boothman but the movement died after a knock on inside the Sorbonne 22.
Sorbonne ran in a few more tries late in the half before Michigan got on the board. Drawing penalties in the Paris half, Michigan chose to run for a try rather than kick for points and it paid off with a short movement to Joel Conzelmann on the blindside who scored despite three immediate defenders. The conversion by Bridges was wide and the score was 48-5 at half.
The second half saw some adjustments made by the Maize and Blue. They were able to address their defensive width and limited the Sorbonne options. Michigan saw some spirited runs by Matt Crabtree as well and the men in blue were in a tighter battle. Sorbonne made some adjustments of their own and started to attack via kick. Small chip kicks over a harder pressing Michigan defense kept the Parisians moving forward and allowed them to score on multiple occasions.
As Michigan rolled through their deep lineup, they were able to pressure deep in the Sorbonne half. This resulted in a hard switch line from Steve Offringa off of a scrum move that put Michigan in the try zone again. Bridges nailed the conversion, putting the score at 72-12.
Sorbonne again used clever kicking tactics to score thrice more and end the match at 87-12. Although the score line is hard to swallow, the tour games against tough opponents have helped the UMRFC’s education and are beneficial to preparing the team for more local competition this spring.
1. Evan Rourke
2. Danny DiGregorio
3. Chris Vasileff
4. Sebastian Harrison
5. Drew Vecchio
6. Mike Wilinski
7. Ty Waters
8. Mike LaCivita
9. Ian Etheart
10. Evan Noon
11. Karl Boothman
12. Grady Bridges
13. Chris Padmos
14. Matt Crabtree
15. Joel Conzelmann
Subs
Pete Melgran
Paxton Plum
Scott Miller
Kenny Andutan
Matt Pilon
Sergio Rocha
Nick Marcus
Cam Watson
Jared Bosma
Andrew Bituin
Brandon Gardner
CJ Stock
Steve Offringa
Tries: Conzelmann 40′, Offringa 55′
Cons: Bridges 56′
