College Rugby Insider: The Motherload

by Ted Hardy

My oh my, what a weekend for college rugby. Teams were in action from one coast to the other. This was, by far, the most active weekend for college rugby in 2013. A hearty thank you goes to the people who were tweeting results this weekend. Teams also did an excellent job posting results and highlights across the board. A special mention goes out to Doug Coil (@djcoil on Twitter) for keeping the scores flowing all day on Saturday. If you're a fan of college rugby and like to keep up on scores, give him a follow.

With that all out of the way, we have a lot of ground to cover so let's get at it.

Northwest Collegiate Rugby Conference

Western Washington 52 Oregon 12 - Western Washington (3-0) kept atop the West Division table with a comfortable 52-12 win over Oregon (0-2). Western hooker Kevin Kinloch scored two tries and flyhalf Quintin Wilms added a try and went 6 for 8 on conversions for a total of 17 points.

Idaho 31 Boise State 26 - In a nail biter, Idaho (2-0) remained unbeaten as they snuck by Boise State (0-3) on the road. Flanker Ashton Bailey scored two tries for Idaho while No. 8 Tyler Stuckenholtz scored two tries to pace the Boise State offense. The win keeps Idaho tied atop the East Division standings. It was a tough loss for Boise State who have yet to secure a win this season.

Washington 34 Western Oregon 15 - Washington picked up an important victory this past weekend as they defeated Western Oregon 34-15. Both teams came into the game with identical records. Washington (2-1) remains in the hunt in the West Division, while any title hopes may have faded for Western Oregon (1-2). Western Oregon hurt themselves with two yellow cards in the match and Washington made them pay. Washington fullback Aaron Carr put together a 14-point performance with a try, three conversions, and a penalty goal.

Eastern Washington 10 Washington State 0 - Eastern Washington No. 8 Eric Populus remains a one-man scoring machine. Populus scored two tries for Eastern Washington (2-1) which were his 8th and 9th of the season. Populus currently leads the NCRC in points scored with 68 on the season and has played a major role in Eastern Washington being tied for 1st place in the East Division. It was a tough loss for Washington State (1-2) as they played well defensively, but couldn't muster the offense.

Atlantic Coast Rugby League

North Carolina 17 Wake Forest 7 - The two teams battled the elements on a cold and snowy day in Chapel Hill. North Carolina (1-0) came out ahead as they defeated Wake Forest (0-1) by a score of 17-7 in the ACRL opener for both teams.

Navy 55 North Carolina State 0 - Navy (1-0) got their ACRL campaign off to a great start as they rolled over NC State (1-1) with a 55-0 victory. With the convincing victory, Navy has laid down a marker for their ACRL opponents.

Southeastern Collegiate Rugby Conference

Vanderbilt 17 Ole Miss 15 - After battling South Carolina on the road last weekend, Vanderbilt (1-1) showed their mettle on the road and came away with a 17-15 win over Ole Miss (2-1). The Commodores got 7 points from the boot of Senior flyhalf Scott Trench (2 conv, 1 pen) and tries from Wes Langham and Austin Moore to surprise Ole Miss. The loss was disappointing for Ole Miss, who had an excellent opportunity to remain undefeated on the season.

South Carolina 57 Georgia 3 - South Carolina (3-0) continued their hot start to the season after putting a hurt on a struggling Georgia (0-2) side. South Carolina currently leads the SCRC in scoring with 138 points (46 pts/game). Senior flyhalf Tim Holkenborg scored 27 points for the Gamecocks on three tries and six conversions.

Head Coach Mark Morris recognized David Mysona with the Man of the Match award. Mysona, a Junior converted prop, put in some impressive runs to break through the Georgia line and was tough at the breakdown. "Mysona is filling his new position at Prop with ease and continues to make the strong runs that he had been known for throughout previous seasons as a Center," added Morris.

Florida 75 Kentucky 7 - After a frustrating start to the SCRC season, Florida (1-2) let out some of their frustrations on the travelling Kentucky Wildcats (1-1). Alban DeCrecy and Junior inside center Jason Lentz each scored three tries for the Gators. Junior flyhalf Lucas Baistrocchi added a try and five conversions in the runaway win for Florida. The Gators still need some help to get back into the playoff race, but still have the ability to finish the SCRC season strong.

LSU 47 Auburn 7 - The stingiest defense in the SCRC, LSU, was back at it this weekend with a solid 47-7 win over Auburn (0-2). LSU got a hat trick of tries from Junior No. 8 Will Middleton and two tries from Taylor Hunter in the victory. LSU is on the road next weekend to face off against South Carolina in what should be one of the highlight games on the college rugby schedule.

Allied Rugby Conference

Texas Tech 91 Sam Houston State 12 - In the ARC opener Texas Tech (1-0) ran rough shot over Sam Houston State (0-1) Texas Tech wing Abdul Sule scored five tries and center Kyle Kulka added four more as the Bearkats had a difficult time bottling the Texas Tech attack. The Sam Houston vs. Texas Tech game will be webcast as a part of the ARC Game of the Week series at 8 pm tonight. All the action can be seen at www.alliedrugby.com.

Sam Houston Head Coach Frank Rizzo spoke highly of the Tech side, “They have some outstanding athletes and implemented a great game plan. We knew we needed to do certain things in order to have a chance to win but we just didn’t get it done. They are an outstanding team.” Rizzo was very proud of his team and the fact they never gave up and played hard until the end, “We will learn from this and be stronger for it.”

Oklahoma 85 Baylor 7 - The other game on the ARC conference slate was another wide margin as Oklahoma (1-0) rolled over Baylor (0-1) by a score of 85-7. Michael Al-Jaboori was named Man of the Match as he led the Sooner's attack.

"We are really happy with the win today in Waco. They hit us hard but it was nice to see our guys hit the gaps and create overloads.," said Sooner Head Coach Ken Forehand. "We have to go back to the drawing board, we were not happy with the scrums and being pushed around too much. For us, it’s on to the next match and preparing for Texas.”

Southwest Rugby Conference

Rice 70 Houston 5 - Rice (5-0) remained atop the SWC standings with a comfortable victory over Houston (0-4). Matthew Kaufman scored four of Rice's 12 tries to lead the offensive onslaught. Kaufman's four tries ups his total to 9 on the season.

St. Edwards 38 TCU 14 - In the biggest game on the SWC schedule this weekend, St. Edwards (5-1) came away with a strong 38-14 win over TCU (3-2). Both teams were hot on the heels of Rice near the top of the SWC standings.

Texas 13 North Texas 10 - With their top side competing in the ARC, Texas' Developmental (1-3) side is playing in the SWC and recorded their first victory this weekend as they snuck by North Texas (1-4) 13-10.

South Independent Rugby Conference

Middle Tennessee State 36 Kennesaw State 26 - MTSU (3-1) jumped to the top of the SIRC North table with a very important win over Kennesaw State (2-2). MTSU should be able to improve their standing as they host win less Memphis next weekend.

Florida State 37 South Florida 16 - The Seminoles (2-1) picked up an important SIRC South victory as they defeated South Florida (1-2). Florida State needs to keep pace as they prepare for their late-March rematch with Central Florida.

Georgia Southern 41 Memphis 22 - Georgia Southern (1-2) picked up their first conference victory of the season as they won 41-22 over a Memphis (0-3) side that has yet to taste victory this season.

Life B 55 Georgia Tech 10 - Life's B (2-0) side won convincingly this weekend over Georgia Tech (2-2).

Pacific Western

Chico State 73 Nevada 0

Sierra College 35 UC-Santa Clara 0

Fresno State 41 San Francisco State 32

With all of the conference action covered, here is a rundown of the non-conference action that took place this weekend.

Cal Wins First Leg of World Cup

Cal 28 British Columbia 18 - Cal played the first leg of their annual "World Cup" competition against the University of British Columbia. The yearly home/away series between the two universities has been contested since 1921. In front of a packed and supportive home crowd, Cal got the better end of UBC this weekend with a 28-18 victory.

"We put ourselves under some pressure in the first half with some penalties and handling errors, but we played some pretty courageous defense during that stretch," said Cal head coach Jack Clark. "We found our stride in the middle part of the match and ran in some tries. We could have closed the game out better, but UBC gets some credit for that. There was a little bit of everything in that game and a lot of lessons."

Non-Conference

Maryland 26 James Madison 19 - Maryland finished their pre-ACRL non-conference slate with a tough win over James Madison. Maryland flyhalf Matias Cima, back from Argentina, provided 11 points on three penalty goals and a conversion. Maryland opens up their ACRL season next weekend against NC State.

Clemson 38 Ohio State 0 - Ohio State made the trip south to Charlotte in what was planned to be a weekend of rugby. With games scheduled against Clemson and Virginia Tech, the Buckeyes were looking to get a jump start on the spring. However, Ohio State must have brought the snow with them to North Carolina. Ohio State did manage to get to play one game, but faced tough weather and a tough opponent in Clemson. Despite the weather playing havoc on attack, Clemson managed to put up a solid victory. Freshman wing Chris Abraham scored two tries for the Tigers. Clemson opens up their ACRL season next weekend at home against Virginia Tech.

Delaware 40 Temple 19 - The Blue Hens got their spring season off to a good start with a solid 40-19 win over Templed. Delaware travels south next weekend to Georgia to play Life University while the Delaware B side takes on Kennesaw State of the SIRC.

UCLA 48 Colorado 5 - UCLA dominated play for the most part of the game as they rolled to a 48-5 victory over visiting Colorado. Senior flyhalf James Faccinto scored two tries for the Bruins. Next week UCLA hosts Cal in their first game of the newly formed PAC rugby competition.

Arizona 46 Air Force 28 - Arizona stunned Air Force by not only with the victory, but the margin. The two squads played tight for the first half as Arizona took a slim 13-7 lead into the break. Both offenses kicked into high gear in the second half as the teams accounted for 54 points in the second half.

“A win against a team like Air Force gives us a chance to look at the areas upon which we need to improve,” Arizona Head Coach Dave Sitton said. “That’s the key right now, getting the win and putting ourselves in a position to win later on. We executed better than we did against Utah, but there are still improvements to make.”

St. Joseph's 45 Rutgers 20 - St. Joseph's put in a impressive effort in downing the Scarlet Knights 45-20. St. Joseph's Junior fullback Tyler Gerber scored a try and added five conversions to pace the offense. Hawk's prop Mark Zatta added two tries to the effort.

St. Mary's 83 Sacramento State 0

Stephen F. Austin 38 Grand Prarie 20

UNC-Wilmington 44 UNC-Charlotte 14

Occidental College 29 Pepperdine 19


College vs. Club

It was a busy weekend for top collegiate sides taking on club teams.

Life 49 Arkansas State 10 - At first glace, it appeared as if this was a surprising scoreline for two teams that have traditionally battled it out as two of the top collegiate sides in America. However, this was the Life Men's team that put up a solid victory against the Red Wolves. Don't read into it too much.

Old Puget Sound Beach 34 BYU 30 - In the tightest of the club vs. college match ups, OPSB used a try at the death to upend BYU in a hard-fought seesaw match up. OPSB was loaded with talent including experienced National Team players Pate Tuilevuka, Miles Craigwell and Mike Palefau. The two sides traded blows throughout the game and BYU took a narrow 15-12 lead into halftime. OPSB took the lead shortly after halftime, but BYU struck back and eventually extended their lead to 25-17 in the 62nd minute with prop Will Collins' 2nd try of the game. OPSB stormed back with tries in the 65th and 71st minutes to retake the lead before BYU flyhalf Jonathan Linehan gave BYU a 30-29 lead with a 74th minute try. OPSB took the game to the wire before sealing victory at the death.

"If you look at the players that OPSB has this game could have gone in one direction really quick," said BYU head coach David Smyth, "We always want to win, but our guys fought hard, played well and we ended up getting what we wanted out of this game. Our experienced players showed composure like they should and our young players had a chance to step and they did."

Glendale Raptors 42 Utah 26 - Glendale took a 12-7 lead into halftime and used a second half surge to pull away from Utah.

Wow! That was a lot of ground to cover. I hope you enjoyed it. Thank you to everyone for posting scores and updates and I thank all of you fans for your support.

As always, if you have college rugby news or scores, feel free to email them to me at [email protected] .