Austin Huns win their 1st national championship

Late score secures victory over New York Athletic Club.

The Austin Huns not only locked down their first national club rugby championship late Saturday in Glendale, Ariz., but they pulled it off with maximum flair.

Trailing the traditional powerhouse New York Athletic Club 23-20 with only minutes left in the U.S. Division I men’s finals, the Huns made one final charge to take the lead and wrap up a 27-23 victory.

Former All-American and U.S. Eagles national player Hanco Germishuys was selected most valuable player. Germishuys was strong all night and started to set up the winning possession by crashing through three defenders. Lomani Tongotongo broke the gain line to set up wing Sani Taylor for the winning try.

“I’m speechless. It’s unreal for me,” Germishuys, 20, told www.usarugby.org of the MVP award. “We put so much hard work in here, each and every one of these guys deserve all of this. Every guy in this team had a role. We were anxious but so pumped.”

The Huns, making the transition to the pros, have built up their talent level and their facilities, but they don’t have NYAC’s pedigree and were playing in their first title match in what is considered the modern era of the sport. The New York team has won five championships.

NYAC led 6-0 early, but Austin’s defense was physical and forced numerous turnovers. Timothee Guillimin got the Huns on the board, and hooker Peter Malcolm worked himself free on the wing, and his try made it 10-6 Austin. Late in the first half, Deon Minnaar scored, and Guillimin added the extra for a 17-6 advantage.

New York came back, closing to within 17-16 at the 50-minute mark of the 80-minute match. NYAC kept up the pressure and went ahead 23-20 late, though Todd Clever’s appearance off the bench helped steady the Huns’ defense and keep NYAC from getting more.

The stage was set for the last push by the Huns, who will move up to join Major League Rugby in 2018.

“People are going to remember our name for years to come,” Germishuys said. “They have to come at us strong if they want to take this trophy from our hands.”