Brown Men’s Rugby closes CRC7s run with clutch Plate final win over Clemson

Brown Men’s Rugby finished its run at the CRC7s National Tournament with a 14-7 win over Clemson University in the Plate final, and the decisive play came after the final horn. With time expired at the Soccerplex Stadium in Boyds, Maryland, St John Smith made a clutch ankle grab tackle, Inigo Langford immediately attacked the breakdown for a poach attempt, and Brown earned the penalty that ended the match and sealed ninth place in the 64-team field.

That finish was a fitting snapshot of Brown’s weekend. The Bears were dangerous in space, clinical around the edges, and stubborn defensively across five matches in the Premier division. Brown opened the tournament with a 43-0 shutout of Air Force, then dropped a 22-17 sudden-death decision to Kutztown in a match split by multiple weather delays totaling more than two hours. From there, Brown regrouped and stormed through the Plate bracket, beating Wingate 33-10 in the quarterfinal, Southern Virginia 31-12 in the semifinal, and Clemson 14-7 in the final. By the end of the weekend, Brown ranked second in overall team scoring with 143 points, trailing only tournament champion Wheeling, and third in points allowed with 51, behind Wheeling and Walsh.

The tournament’s top individual scorer wore Brown. Captain Tito Edjua led all players with 56 points on eight tries and eight conversions, setting the tone all weekend with his finishing, kicking accuracy, and reliable defense. He scored four tries against Air Force, and added the teams' conversions as Brown raced to a 24-0 halftime lead before finishing the shutout. Freshman Inigo Langford was right behind him as Brown’s second-leading scorer with 35 points on five tries and five conversions. Langford sparked the team's scoring in the Plate rounds, scoring three tries and four conversions against Wingate and adding both tries plus both conversions in the final against Clemson.

Brown also got major production from Tripp King, who scored four tries during the tournament, including a hat trick in the opening match, and displayed his dogged defense throughout, regularly forcing turnovers by driving ball carriers into touch. King struck just 30 seconds into the Air Force game on the second phase after Brown recovered its own kickoff, scored again at 2:00 off an attacking scrum, and later broke loose from more than 50 meters out at 13:10. Against Wingate, he added another try from the edge of an attacking scrum. Brown’s attack kept finding different answers, too. Matt Schwab scored twice against Kutztown, first on the short side of a ruck after a behind-the-back pass from Charm Tuala, then to finish a multi-phase team sequence, dragging 2 defenders with him as he was just able to touch the ball down on the try line. Fred Hughes scored off an Owen Clarke offload against Wingate. Clarke later finished a long Schwab run against Southern Virginia, then helped create another try with an offload that Edjua turned into points after a Tripp King pop pass from the deck. Marco Lapierre also crossed in the semifinal after a St John Smith offload.

The Kutztown match was the toughest moment of the weekend. Brown led 10-0 after Schwab’s early brace, but Kutztown answered before halftime, and the teams were interrupted by the long weather stoppage at 10:30 of the match. When play finally resumed, Brown restarted in Kutztown territory and reclaimed the lead at 12:00 when Edjua scored after Brown stole a Kutztown lineout and converted for a 17-12 edge. Kutztown tied it late with a try just before regulation ended, missed the conversion that would have won it, then took the win in sudden death on a Brown turnover. The result stung, especially because Kutztown eventually placed third overall, but Brown answered exactly the way it needed to.

That response started against Wingate, a matchup carrying some extra history because former Queens University coach Frank McKinney now leads Wingate’s program, and Brown had beaten Queens in XVs national championship matches in 2022 and 2024. Brown controlled most of that quarterfinal behind Langford’s boot and finishing, then rolled that momentum into the semifinal. Southern Virginia briefly cut a 14-0 deficit to 14-12 just after halftime, but Edjua answered from an attacking scrum at 9:40, scored again at 11:00, and Brown closed it out from there. In the final, Clemson struck first at 2:50 off a Brown turnover in contact, but Langford answered with a long run for a try at 5:10, beating a defender with a sensational spin move, and converted to tie it 7-7. Then, after halftime, he struck again at 12:30 off a quick-throw lineout and Schwab assist, added the conversion, and Brown’s defense handled the rest until Smith’s tackle and Langford’s final breakdown play brought the weekend to its sharpest possible finish.

With the Spring 2026 now at an end, the next time the Brown rugby community will gather will be at the annual Commencement Match on Saturday, May 23rd, on Berylson Family Field, to enjoy the alumni match and celebrate the graduating class of 2026. More details to follow via email and on the website.

ROSTER

Joe Ashford '28

Thomas Bouchard '28

Owen Clarke '26 - 1 try scored

Tito Edjua '27 (C) - 8 tries and 8 conversions scored

Erik Estienne '28

Fred Hughes G'26 - 1 try scored

Cameron Kean '29

Tripp King G'26 - 4 tries scored

Marco Lapierre '28 - 1 try scored

Inigo Langford '29 - 5 tries and 5 conversions scored

Theo Romero '27

Matt Schwab G'26 - 2 tries scored

Ben Shirley '27

St John Smith '28

Charm Tuala '28

MATCH SUMMARIES

Match 1 vs Air Force Academy

:30 – Brown try scored by Tripp King on the second phase after recovering our own kickoff, conversion by Tito Edjua – Brown 7 – 0 Air Force

2:00 – Brown try scored by Tripp King around the edge from an attacking scrum – Brown 12 – 0 Air Force

6:00 – Brown try scored by Tito Edjua from a penalty quick tap in close – Brown 17 – 0 Air Force

7:00 – Brown try scored by Tito Edjua around the edge of the defence, conversion by Tito Edjua – Brown 24 – 0 Air Force

Halftime

8:20 – Brown try scored by Tito Edjua on second phase from an attacking scrum, conversion by Tito Edjua – Brown 31 – 0 Air Force

10:40 – Brown try scored by Tito Edjua from a penalty quick tap, conversion by Tito Edjua – Brown 38 – 0 Air Force

13:10 – Brown try scored by Tripp King around the edge of the defense from over 50 meters out – Brown 43 – 0 Air Force

FINAL Brown 43 – 0 Air Force

Match 2 vs Kutztown University

:40 – Brown try scored by Matt Schwab down the short side of a ruck from a Charm Tuala behind the back pass – Brown 5 – 0 Kutztown

2:55 – Brown try scored by Matt Schwab, capping a multi-phase attacking sequence – Brown 10 – 0 Kutztown

5:00 – Kutztown try scored around the edge – Brown 10 – 5 Kutztown

7:00 – Kutztown try scored from a penalty quick tap in close, conversion good – Brown 10 – 12 Kutztown

Halftime

10:30 – game postponed due to weather advisory. Attempted to retake the field over an hour later. Postponed again. Full-time delay was well over 2 hours. The match finally resumed with a scrum to Brown in Kutztown territory, where play had been stopped earlier.

12:00 – Brown try scored by Tito Edjua after Brown stole a Kutztown lineout, conversion by Tito Edjua – Brown 17 – 12 Kutztown

13:30 – Kutztown try scored just before the end of regulation, missed the conversion that would have won the game in regulation – Brown 17 – 17 Kutztown

Sudden death over time

17:00 – Kutztown try scored from a Brown turnover – Brown 17 – 22 Kutztown

FINAL Brown 17 – 22 Kutztown

Match 3 vs Wingate University

1:30 – Brown try scored by Inigo Langford reversing the point of attack from an attacking scrum, conversion by Inigo Langford – Brown 7 – 0 Wingate

4:25 – Brown try scored by Inigo Langford to cap a multi-pass sequence where Brown displayed excellent ball movement, conversion by Inigo Langford – Brown 14 – 0 Wingate

6:15 – Wingate try scored from a penalty quick tap – Brown 14 – 5 Wingate

7:00 – Brown try scored by Tripp King, beating the edge defender from an attacking scrum, conversion by Inigo Langford – Brown 21 – 5 Wingate

Halftime

8:00 – Wingate try scored from a penalty quick tap – Brown 21 – 10 Wingate

9:00 – Brown try scored by Fred Hughes from an Owen Clarke offload – Brown 26 – 10 Wingate

11:30 – Brown try scored by Inigo Langford around the edge of the defense, conversion by Inigo Langford – Brown 33 – 10 Wingate

FINAL Brown 33 – 10 Wingate

Match 4 – Plate semifinal vs Southern Virginia University

2:30 – Brown try scored by Tito Edjua, getting around the edge of the defense from a penalty, conversion by Tito Edjua – Brown 7 – 0 Southern Virginia

5:50 – Brown try scored by Owen Clarke, finishing off a long run by Matt Schwab, conversion by Tito Edjua – Brown 14 – 0 Southern Virginia

7:00 – Southern Virginia try scored after a couple broken tackles, conversion good – Brown 14 – 7 Southern Virginia

Halftime

7:45 – Southern Virginia try scored by stepping by a Brown defender – Brown 14 – 12 Southern Virginia

9:40 – Brown try scored by Tito Edjua from an attacking scrum, conversion by Tito Edjua – Brown 21 – 12 Southern Virginia

11:00 – Brown try scored by Tito Edjua from a Tripp King pop pass off the deck, after an Owen Clarke offload – Brown 26 – 12 Southern Virginia

14:00 – Brown try scored by Marco Lapierre from a St John Smith offload – Brown 31 – 12 Southern Virginia

FINAL Brown 31 – 12 Southern Virginia

Match 5 – Plate final (for 9th place out of 64) vs Clemson University

2:50 – Clemson try scored from a Brown turnover in contact

5:10 – Brown try scored by Inigo Langford, beating a defender with a spin move, conversion by Inigo Langford – Brown 7 – 7 Clemson

Halftime

12:30 – Brown try scored by Inigo Langford off a quick throw lineout, and Matt Schwab assist, conversion by Inigo Langford – Brown 14 – 7 Clemson

With time expired in the Plate final match against Clemson, a clutch ankle tackle by St John Smith led to a timely poach attempt by Inigo Langford, awarding Brown a penalty with time expired and ending the match.

FINAL Brown 14 – 7 Clemson