GRR on X  GRR on Facebook GRR in Instagram GRR Vimeo Library GRR on YouTube RuggaMatrix America Podcasts Support GRR on Patreon

What's Going On In The MARC?

irish rugby tours

What's Going On In The MARC?

It was a defensive battle between Roan and Salisbury.

As expected the Mid-Atlantic Rugby Conference is a little confusing, and this week's results don't make it any more predictable.

No team is undefeated after both West Chester and Rowan lost this weekend. West Chester was upended by St. Joseph's 19-12 in a game where WCU had two tries they thought they'd scored not be given. Still, St. Joe's played a good defensive game and WCU made some poor decisions.

"Our mental game has to be better," said West Chester Head Coach Bjorn Haglid. "We have to be better in our decision-making and figuring out other teams weaknesses and exploiting them."

Then Rowan lost to Salisbury 12-10. After running out to a 10-0 lead Rowan ran into a bit of a brick wall as the Sharks inched their way back. 

"We just needed to clean up some things," said Salisbury Head Coach Bill Creese. "We needed to avoid trying to do too much, trying to win the game with one play. We just needed to calm down."

Salisbury started four freshmen and has been relying on its front line players through this season. That might be an issue later.

Meanwhile, Rutgers held off Temple 27-22 to make it five teams at either 3-1 or 2-1, and James Madison, which had started poorly, hung up 60 on Delaware.

It's worth noting also that the MARC has wrested the mantel of most-competitive conference from the Chesapeake. Of the 14 games in the conference, half have been close (within a try), which is a massive number.

Meet the new MARC, likely not anywhere near last week's MARC.

MARC Standings Oct 16, 2021 W L T PF PA PD BT BL Pts
Salisbury 3 1 0 122 58 64 3 1 16
West Chester 3 1 0 100 73 27 3 1 16
Rowan 3 1 0 113 53 60 2 1 15
St. Joseph's 2 1 0 65 52 13 1 1 10
Rutgers 2 1 0 46 62 -16 1 0 9
James Madison 1 2 0 98 79 19 2 1 7
Delaware 0 3 0 43 89 -46 0 1 1
Temple 0 4 0 53 152 -99 0 1 1