Convicts miss out on third title
The Sydney Convicts have missed out on a third consecutive Bingham Cup title, going down to the New York Gotham Knights 18-15 in a very tight grand final in Minneapolis that finished less than an hour ago.
Last night the side’s number 2 side took out the grand final of the Bingham Bowl, defeating the Washington Renegades 10-7.
In the Plate grand final the boys played a confident game leading on the scoreboard for the entire match. Up by 10 points at half time, they held the Renegades scoreless till the final second.
Day one of the competition on Saturday saw the Convicts 2 score convincing wins over the Seattle Quake (47-0) and the San Diego Armada (59-0) to move through to the next round.
The Convicts 1, looking for their third consecutive Bingham Cup, posted effortless wins over the Chicago Dragons (74-0) and the Atlanta Bucks (84-0) in a show of strength and determination to hold on to their title as the world champion gay rugby union side.
Day two results were a mixed bag.
The Convicts 2 lost their first match against the Washington B-side (3-0), before coming back to defeat the Atlanta Bucks (22-3).
On the same day the Convicts 1 continued its push towards the finals with wins over Washington A (7-3) and the Manchester Spartans (29-0).
Both sides moved through to the semi-finals and Convicts 2 pushed through to the next round with an easy 29-0 trouncing for the Chicago Dragons.
The Convicts 1 came up against old rivals the San Francisco Fog in their semi-finals and took out the match 3-0 after some touch on-field encounters.
Minneapolis photo gallery: CLICK HERE
It’s disappointing to think that New York choose to go down the “Gay for Pay” method of paying professional straight players to buy their Bingham Cup victory. It’s a sad way to win what is supposed to be an amateur tournament.
Congrats to the Convicts though whose both sides have now made the final in the last 3 Bingham Cups and won 2 out of 3 of both of the competitions they have entered. They certainly showed how gay rugby is supposed to be played and deserve all the praise they get for the way they handled themselves in the tournament.
I’m American, but in my mind, the Sydney team won the tournament. It’s an amateur tournament. New York hired and paid professional players who scored a majority their points.. Without these players, Gotham’s regular season roster would have been defeated soundly in hotly contested matches by at least three of the clubs, and likely defeated by two additional clubs. Sure, they won, but look at how they did it. It must feel like a mighty shallow victory for New York, especially for those devoted, longstanding players who lost a starting spot to some guy getting a check. They have the Cup, but where’s their pride?
Sometimes you have to dip down before you can go back up again. Proud of you, guys!
The first not winning is a bit of a let down – but runner’s up is still an awesome feat!
Congratualtions to the Platelets!!! Those guys rock! Finger’s crossed we’ll be playing in AU in 2 years time…