The San Diego Armada Rugby Football Club (SDARFC) traveled to Phoenix this past weekend and defeated the Phoenix Storm 24-7 in a pre-season match up on Dec. 3. It was the last pre-season match before the 2005-06 season begins.

The two teams are members of different parent rugby unions, but are both members of the International Gay Rugby Association and Board (IGRAB), the overall parent group for gay rugby.

The Storm kicked off to the Armada, who took the ball on the bounce and proceeded to run it down the pitch toward the goal. The Storm moved in with a strong defensive line and good tackles, but was unable to clear the rucks and the Armada retained possession.

The Armada drove forward with a few short crashes by the forward pack. As the Armada drove forward, the Storm pushed harder and created a wall of defenders. As the defensive line was drawn into the flanker, a quick pass to the fly-half shot the ball out to the wing before it was popped to the full-back.

An Armada full-back grounded the ball just shy of the try line before realizing his error, doubling back and scoring before the Storm could reach him for the first score of the game and a 7-0 lead after the kick.

The Storm redoubled their efforts to win the ball in the rucks, and at times succeeded. Their initial push yielded impressive gains of several meters, but was finally stopped short of the goal by the Armada. A retaliatory drive by the Armada put the Armada within scoring range on a penalty kick. The kick for the goal was good, bringing its lead to 10-0.

The next few minutes of the game were peppered with some field-position give and take, as each team tried to build momentum and score, but both teams had stepped up their defense and were not going to make it easy. A Storm player poached the ball, which yielded a quick pass out to the wing and rounded the Armada defensive line into open space while the Armada struggled to catch him. The Storm got on the board and closed the Armada’s lead to 10-7 after the extra-point kick.

Then the Armada cleared the rucks and got the ball out to the scrum-half, who alternated between crashing-forwards play and short runs by the back line. Good support was provided to the ball carrier, resulting in a steady and continuous drive up the pitch. The Armada fly-back scored on a crashing drive at the goal line, increasing the Armada’s lead to 17-7.

Adjustments were made before the second half to close holes as quickly as they were found, and both teams managed to communicate effectively. Strong scrums and line-outs continued to play a factor in regaining possession of the ball, but the game was as much a backs game as it was a forwards game. Both teams seemed to excel at crashing past rucks and passing out to the wings, but strong defense was played on both sides of the pitch.

The only score in the second half came when the Armada scrum half crashed from the end of a ruck for the final goal of the game, bringing the score to 24-7 after the third successful conversion kick from the full-back.

The San Diego Armada’s next game is scheduled for Jan. 7 in Los Angeles against the L.A. Rebellion, the only other member of IGRAB in the Southwestern states. This will be the season-opening game for the Armada.

For more information on the Armada, visit their Web site at www.sdarmada.org.