Commonwealth of Virginia Rugby Hall of Fame
One of my favorite memories of Mark’s influence on the game of rugby came in the territorial national seven’s championships in Orlando. I believe, in late 1985. We were playing the California select team in the finals and we kind of had a mental block with them working against us. Up to this point, most of the national team members for the Eagles came from California. We had found a way to lose to a California team in the club championships in Tucson earlier in the year despite us having, what I thought was a much better team. Right from the kickoff of the final match it was a scrappy affair. I had taken a punch in the eye because we started to work their pack a little bit and had taken a few possessions away but couldn’t break through. Back and forth things went until Mark took the corner on his man and locked it up with his speed and size.
No one could catch him. We used to joke about him hitting his man with a “stun gun.” From that point in the game, it was obvious that they couldn’t stop us and, in particular, Mark! He scored two or three times. Game over!
I think this moment was important because I believe in many ways it launched a “Super Nova in the East.” The Duck Brothers won the National Club title the next year. MOB got one soon after. We crushed all competition in the National Select Territorials for a long time. One year, the East 1 select team played the East 2 select team in the championship and the East 2 team won, but that is another story. Players from the East began to have a much larger presence in the Eagles selection and won the plate division in the Hong Kong Sevens. Fittingly, Mark scored the final try in that game by busting through on a kickoff. The announcer followed up with “That surely spells the end of Canada.”’They too fell victim to the “Super Nova in the East” which was ignited by Mark Gaetjen.