Rain, sleet, hail, and Rugby! The Big Apple Classic went ahead on Saturday, April 8th, with enormous enthusiasm considering the weather. Some strong performances were put in by teams that may have been more unknown quantities, with the weather possibly being the leveller.

The sides arrived to find overcast skies. An accident on the highwayhad prevented some of the teams from arriving in time for the first matches, or even arriving at all,so the tournament kicked off with a rearranged schedule. First up was Fordham vs Syracuse. Fordham looked strong despite losing alost their entire A-side form last year through graduation, however Syracuse, with a big pack,looked even stronger. Both sides preferred to tough it up with forwards charging off rucks and mauls, but rarely making headway across the gainline. Ultimately it was Syracuse's livewire scrum-half who proved the difference, scoring their second try with a clean break from a scrum just inside their own half to seal the game. Both Rhode Island institutions opened with impressive wins also. A well drilled New Paltz side then got off the mark, displaying excellent technical ability at the breakdown by beating Iona. In the womens division Fordham put the hurt on Stony Brook who went home with too many injuries leaving Delaware with a bye. In the second round of mens games both URI and RIC strengthened their positions with tight, hard fought wins, whilst Binghamton came back from their earlier defeat to RIC by beating a smarting Fordham, who had lost their inside center to injury in the opening game. The surprise of the next round was RIC overcoming their traditionally more powerful neighbors URI to notch their third win. New Paltz continued their impressive form in the now driving rain and sleet by dispatching an injury-depleted Albany side who toughed out the day to give valuable experience to some new guys. Syracuse got back on track by beating Iona. In the womens division Fordham won the depleted competition by prevailing in a very tight and entertaining match to beat Delaware, Megan Manning proving instrumental to their cause and taking home the womens player of the tournament. In the final round of mens matches New Paltz and Binghamton managed to seal their games with 14 point cancellation wins due to the adverse weather. The extremely harsh weather had by now taken its toll and this left the mens final between impressive New Paltz and un-fancied RIC still to be played at another time. Results are forthcoming.

Women’s First Place: Fordham University

Women’s Player of the Tournament: Megan Manning, Fordham University

Men’s Standings:

1. New Paltz, 3-0, 11 tries

2. Rhode Island College, 3-0, 5 tries

3. University of Rhode Island, 2-1, 8 tries.

Men’s Final, New Paltz v. Rhode Island College postponed to 4/30/06. Location, Time: TBD.