Klein Captains Team to Face #18 Gators

A classic rivalry will be reborn on Friday as FSU travels south to Gainesville to take on the archrival Gators. Three matches between the clubs will be played culminating with FSU's Firxt XV kicking-off against UF's nationally ranked "A" side at just after 7:30pm. UF and FSU are Florida's only Division 1 collegiate rugby programs.

As if the natural rivalry between the schools wasn't enough, there is a lot on the line both locally and on the national scene. In the Florida Rugby Union competition, both FSU and UF are undefeated at 3-0 and seeding for the March 6th State Collegiate Championship weekend will be up for grabs. On the national scene, the Gators are ranked #18 in the country by American Rugby News having upset Tennessee this past weekend. The unranked Seminoles have made some noise recently as well and will relish the opportunity to gain ground with a win over the Gators tomorrow.

Seminoles Associate Coach Kirk Swanner is one of few in the Seminole camp who has been around long enough to remember the last time FSU and UF went best-on-best back in 2006 and offered his thoughts on the upcoming matches. "Coach Simmons deserves a lot of credit for how far the UF program has come. Conventional wisdom would suggest that they are quite forward oriented, but we are well aware of the quality of their backline as well, and have prepared accordingly. We've gone with a 5-2 forward split on the bench to ensure we are physically competitive right until the end."

One of the most intriguing match-ups on Friday will be at the fly half position. Senior Dylan Hamilton has been outstanding for the Seminoles in 2009-2010, including this past weekend when he accounted for all of FSU's points in two matches. Lining up opposite will be Hamilton's FRU Select Side teammate, Mattias Groetars, whose kicking game and handling skills have proved invaluable for the Gators. Both are solid candidates for the USA Rugby South All-Star squad and have to be in any early discussions about potential Collegiate All-Americans based in the South.

First XV Selections

• 1 - Joe Walthall
• 2 - Sean Large
• 3 - Nick David
• 4 - Alex Cherry
• 5 - Jeremy Dabush (pictured)
• 6 - Ned Nilsson
• 7 - Kyle Klein (Captain)
• 8 - Justin Jennings
• 9 - Ryan Young
• 10 - Dylan Hamilton
• 11 - Chris Gonzales
• 12 - Evan Keel
• 13 - Mark Faimalie
• 14 - Elio Solari
• 15 - Steve Wertepny
• 16 - Alex Luca
• 17 - Dan Sammons
• 18 - Seth Dobyns
• 19 - Greg Kraus
• 20 - Kyle Lozito
• 21 - Asa Brown
• 22 - Alex Kollmer

Kickoff for the First XV match in Gainesville, FL is 7:30PM