The Try Times

Another exciting weekend in college rugby. A solid number of teams were in action this weekend. The St. Mary's Gaels, pummeled UCLA at home 58-5. Cal took a trip to Arizona and beat the University of Arizona and GCU by a combined score of 159-17! Obviously Coach Jack Clarke lit a fire under his squad because they took out all their frustration in Arizona. Arkansas State pulled off an gutsy win against the formerly #1 ranked Lindenwood Lions. In Ellensburg, WA, Central Washington pulled of a solid win against a threatening Cal Poly team. Down in Texas, Texas A&M beat the University of Texas 19-12.  Now onto the rankings. Navy hasn't played a match yet this spring. But they're the defending champions, they went 11-0 in the fall, and really haven't done anything to blemish their resume. And so they slide back up to #1. BYU might have a compelling argument for #1 if it weren't for that close loss to Lindenwood in November. They're a team with a lot of momentum, ...

First Half Arkansas State and Lindenwood met in a windy and chaotic matchup on Saturday. Lindenwood loves to put the ball to boot and keep the pressure on their opposition. They stayed true to form and there was a good amount of kicking to start off the match. Both teams conceded possession on a few early handling errors. Anyone who's been under a high ball on a windy day knows just how difficult it can be to field those kicks.  The Red Wolves struck first after earning a lineout just outside their attacking 22. Ark State ran a forward pod in the midfield off the flyhalf. Ark State continued with another phase to the same side, attacking the edge with their backs. The Lions failed to fold properly, leaving Ark State with a 5 on 3. The ball went high to the center who corralled it and popped it to the hard charging fullback, James Beauclerk. Beauclerk sliced through a disjointed Lindenwood defense and won the race to the corner.  Arkansas State led 5-0 after missing the convers...

Since my last rankings there have been some very exciting matchups in the college rugby scene. Central Washington beat Arizona, BYU beat Cal, UCLA beat GCU, and top teams playing weaker competition continued to roll.  Saint Mary's dismantled Boston College 74-7. Arkansas State pumped Mckendree 113-0. Cal Poly obliterated UCSC 112-8. I don't care how bad the opposition is, it's not easy to put up 100 plus points in a match. And #1 Lindenwood beat Mary Washington 39-0 at a neutral site.  Of course, the BYU vs Cal game was quite a surprise. Check out my article earlier this week to read more about that game. How did that game impact the rankings? Well the Cougars shoot up to #2 after their convincing win over the Bears. I think BYU has truly earned the number two spot. Against Cal their attack looked absolutely unstoppable. Every player knew their role and performed well. They had very few handling errors which gave them a big advantage over Cal. BYU plays a very loose and ex...

Check out my video recap: This weekend college rugby fans had the privilege of witnessing two old rivals and rugby powerhouses, BYU and Cal, go head to head in Berkley. Every year this is one of the most exciting matches. The last meeting between these two teams was the D1A Semifinal. In that match exploded in the second half to put an end to BYU's playoff run. There's no doubt that match was still in the minds of the BYU players as they were clearly out for revenge.  Coming into this matchup, undefeated Cal sat at #4 in the rankings and BYU at #5. BYU's only loss of the season so far coming in the fall to Lindenwood. The college rugby world anticipated this to be a tight matchup between these two physical teams. And that was what college rugby fans got for the first 35 minutes of the match.  The first 35 minutes were back and forth. Cal struck first with a try in the fourth minute. Will Shankland made a Cougar miss with a nice step inside and dove over the line. Cal looked...

This was another exciting weekend in college rugby. The score lines this last weekend solidified standings for some teams and raised questions about others. Here are some notable matchups from last weekend. Cal handled UCLA 66-12. Central Washington fell to Trinity Western in a low scoring match, 10-14. Cal Poly demolished Santa Clara 78-21. Finally, Grand Canyon beat Utah 50-5 in Phoenix.  A few quick thoughts about those matches.  Central vs. Trinity Western: First the Central Washington match. This was a surprising loss to me as Central has beaten Trinity Western sizably in past seasons. According to the Trinity Western website, Saturday marked the first win ever for Trinity Western over CWU.  There was a lot of kicking in the first ten minutes of the match. Trinity Western was able to find grass on most of their kicks, but their kick chase really wasn't strong which gave the Wildcats time to string together some nice counter attacks. However, Central threw away some g...

Welcome to the spring season of college rugby! This is a bit of an awkward time in college rugby because not all teams are playing games yet due to weather. Things are in full swing on the west coast so I thought I'd drop a rankings to start things off. Here's my explanation of my rankings and a preview of some exciting matches this spring.  St. Mary's and Cal are back in action which means some teams get bumped down and the California powerhouse move up. Lindenwood stays at number one but has not played a match yet this spring. The Lions will play Ark State, Life, and Central. All of those will be solid games. It's fun to see the Lions take on western opponents like Central and BYU in the fall. BYU vs. Lindenwood was easily the most riveting match of the fall. I'd love for them to continue the trend and perhaps take on St. Mary's or Cal in future seasons. Arkansas State boasts one of the more ambitious schedules in D1A. They will get a crack at Lindenwood and L...