New faces, old habits — Lincoln Park click into gear

Lincoln Park arrived at NW Woodsmen with a squad of strangers. They left with 65 points, a hatful of tries and the unmistakable look of a side beginning to find itself.

Let us not overcomplicate this. Lincoln Park went to the Woodsmen, put 65 points on the board and barely looked troubled doing it. On a crisp afternoon that suited running rugby, they ran, they muscled, they improvised — and they won by a distance. Some performances need dissecting. This one simply needs acknowledging.

The real story, though, was not the scoreline. It was the context. Many of these men had never played together before. New combinations, unfamiliar voices calling in the lineout, alliances formed in the warm-up rather than across a season. And yet it clicked. That tells you something about the character in this squad.

The two French debutants deserve their billing. Chapuis is the kind of player who makes you lean forward — he reads the game a step ahead, finds the shoulder of the carrier and arrives at pace. His try, finishing off a sharp Cazenave break down the right, was the work of a player who knows exactly where he is supposed to be. Bricteux, meanwhile, brought the abrasion the back row demands. Energy, contest, presence. You always knew where he was.

In the loose, the Suldaze brothers were an intriguing combination. David does the quiet, essential work — the kind that never makes the highlights reel but makes everything else possible. Gio is the blunter instrument: physical, hard to shift, the sort of player opposition ball-carriers would rather not see arriving. He did let a clever Rosenfeld chip — and it was clever, the sort of audacity Finn Russell would sign off on — bounce untouched. He will know. These things happen early in a season.

Finnegan was the backs' standout. A hat-trick of tries, each one earned by doing the unglamorous thing — tracking the kick, committing to the chase, finishing without fuss. He had the instincts of a Bielle-Biarry operating well within himself. That should worry opponents when the pressure goes up.

Up front, Lincoln Park won the scrum battle they were not supposed to win. The Woodsmen pack had the ballast; Lincoln Park had the technique, the drive and the bloody-mindedness. Loomis set the tone, Mulkerin gave the scrum its go-forward and Geiser — ever alert, always in the right channel — picked up his try and conversion through sheer willingness to work.

But it was Medero who wrote the afternoon's headline. A hooker by trade, asked to play scrumhalf. Many players accept such requests and do a job. Medero lit up the afternoon. His 60-metre break, including a cool-headed step around the covering fullback, was the act of a man entirely comfortable in borrowed territory. File that one away. There is more to come from him.

Plenty still to sharpen, of course. There always is when a squad is this new to itself. But the foundations are there. Lincoln Park head home with a result worth remembering. The Woodsmen, to their credit, kept competing. Good hosts, honest opponents.

As opening statements go, this will do nicely.

Team: Mulkerin, Dorn, Geiser, Loomis, Sisti, Bricteux, Suladze D, Suladze G, Cazenave, Clarke, Callovini, Chapuis, Hudson, Jay, Finnegan

Finishers: Panzica, Medero, Leyman, Driscoll, DeBacker, Lyons T, Dollins, Spanola, Walsh E, Mazy, Rosenfeld

Tries: Finnegan 3, Geiser 1, Loomis 1, Chapuis 1, Clarke 1, Suladze G 1, Rosenfeld 1, Medero 1, Cavenave 1
Cons: Geiser 1, Pearman 4