Raptor Women in Florida on business

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Published on Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Written by Glendale Rugby

The Raptors face Boston’s Beantown RFC in the second semifinal clash of the Women’s Premier League Championship Friday at 3 p.m. EST (1 p.m. Mountain) at JetBlue Park in Fort Myers, Fla. The Berkeley All Blues face the Twin Cities Amazons in the first semifinal at noon. Semifinal winners will play for the title Sunday at 2 (noon MST).

Beantown completed the season at 4-2 in the Blue conference, losing twice to the Amazons. Beantown has a long history of competitive rugby and have been one of the leading teams on the East Coast. They rely on a strong forward pack to move the ball forward and are a good mauling team. In the backs they have individual speed but tend to rely on their forward muscle.

The Raptors will be hard-pressed to match Beantown up front in the size game, but the mobility of the Glendale forwards may be an equalizing factor. The Raptors have been playing solid defense and will have to stand up to the onslaught that Beantown will bring with their powerful forward-running game.

Look for the Raptors to move the ball wider than Beantown prefers to play as the Raptors attempt to use their mobility and skill to space out the Boston players in order to attack. The matches will be webcast at ustream.tv/usarugby.