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On December 8, 2007, the rugby championship 2007 of the two Bremen universities took place on the sports grounds of the University of Bremen. Supported by numerous camp-followers four teams gave relentless battle for the cup: the UniBremen Falken and the UniBremen Füchse with 19 players in total and 22 player from Jacobs University, the Jacobs Berserks I and the Jacobs Berserks II. And the winners are…
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Dec
10, 2007]
“AHOO… AHOO…AHOO”… This war cry struck fear in the hearts of the opponents of Jacobs Berserks. The University of Bremen rang with echoes of “Jacobs…Jacobs” as Berserks I and Berserks II ploughed into the rugby field, pumped and ready. The “Hansestadt Bremen Uni Meisterschaft”, a seven-a-side competition for the title of Champions of Bremen Universities Rugby, was scheduled for last Saturday.
As the sun crept out from behind the clouds, the expression of the player’s faces told that it was going to be a day of hard hits and spectacular try’s. UniBremen Falken were looking to defend its title against the other three teams; UniBremen Füchse, Jacobs Berserks I and Jacobs Berserks II. It was scheduled to be a day-long tournament where the teams play each other through qualifiers, quarters, semis and the finals to win the coveted cup.
As the teams warmed up and discussed strategies, it was clear that every team had a strong side that was ready to sweat and bleed to emerge as victors. The tournament kicked off with Jacobs Berserks II playing UniBremen Füchse. Each match consisted of two halves that were seven minutes long. Seven minutes of unbelievable tackles and runs later, UniBremen Füchse had the upper hand over Berserks II. The second half saw Berserks II fighting back in spectacular style but falling short of a terribly small margin as the end whistle rang. Final score was 10-7 for the Füchse.
Berserks I played the second match of the tournament against UniBremen Falken, the defending champions and ended up as clear victors with a score of 26-0. The determination of the forwards in stopping every attack and answering every hit with a harder blow and the speed and agility shown by the wings as they ducked and swerved through every tackle resulted in the well deserved victory. The qualifiers followed with Berserks I playing Berserks II and UniBremen Falken playing against UniBremen Füchse. Berserks I won their match 19-0 and UniBremen Füchse won theirs 7-5. Berserks II put up a tremendous fight against UniBremen Falken in their next match but missed victory again by a close 24-14 score, ending their trophy run. Berserks I continued their dominating run with another victory over UniBremen Füchse 24-0 to enter the finals. The Berserks definitely put up a tremendous show for their supporters consisting of President Joachim Treusch and other members of the administration along with the ardent student fans.
The finals saw the top two teams of the qualifiers, Berserks I go head to head with UniBremen Füchse for the cup. Berserks I under the guidance of team captain Francesco Vivan started off in spectacular style with several unstoppable tries and spot on conversions to take a dominating lead in the first half. The second half saw the forwards successfully stop some strong attempts by the determined UniBremen Füchse team with rib-breaking and jaw-dropping tackles. As the final whistle was blown, the rugby pitch was swarmed by blue shirts chanting “Jacobs…Jacobs”. 33-0, the Berserks were the victors of the “Hansestadt Bremen Uni Meisterschaft”. 102 points scored and not a single point conceded throughout, a perfect run by the champions.
As the trophy was held high, not a single thought wandered over to the freezing cold air billowing around nor did a thought wander to the bruises and blood. All that we realized as we gripped that trophy was, “we came… we fought and we conquered”.
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