Twenty seven IFRFC members traveled to Kansas City Missouri the weekend of October 7,8 to participate in the Heart of America Rugby Tournament.  The weather conditions were beautiful but a bit chilly.  

Iowa Falls played the first match in the twelve team men's division II bracket at 8:00 AM Saturday morning.  The temperature was a frigid 24 degrees at game time with a nice coating of frost on the ground.  The match was against Northland, a local Kansas City team.  Iowa Falls controlled much of the match with Northland only penetrating inside the 22 twice during the game.  Iowa Falls with the win 31-0.  

The next match was held at 12:30 PM and the temperature had warmed up to 42 degrees, 15 mph wind from the south and bright sun.  Wonderful playing conditions but chilly for the fans that made the trip to KC.   The second match paired Iowa Falls against Topeka RFC.  The Kansas club found themselves mismatched against the speed and finesse of the Iowa Falls pack.... Oh sorry, it was the backs.  In the best display of ball handling yet this year the IF backs played flawlessly.  The pack took care of the ball well and provided the backs with great support.  Two of the Iowa Fall backs ended the day with hat-tricks in the victory over Topeka 60-0.

IFRFC members retired to the lovely Belton Inn for an afternoon of rest and relaxation before attending a club meal at the local Bennigans establishment.  Once again a good time was had by all and Rod's Birthday celebration was the highlight of the evening.  

The twelve teams, divided into 4 pools of three had been thinned down to 4 teams for the semi finals.  Iowa Falls would face County of Kansas City and Des Moines would face Kansas State University Men's Club.  

In the semi finals Iowa Falls lost a hard fought match with County 19-20.  We could not capitalize on conversions and found ourselves attacking inside the 22 for several minutes before the whistle blew only to come up short.  Des Moines defeated SKI 23 to 5 in their semi final match. 

In the Finals Des Moines defeated County 18-17 and Iowa Falls defeated KSU 24-5 for third place.  It would have been awesome to have an Iowa Finals for the HOA tournament.  All in all with the two men's clubs representing Iowa to take first and third was a great finish to a wonderful  weekend.