Club rugby suffers fourth consecutive loss
Giving them their fourth straight loss of the season, the Utah State University men’s rugby team was defeated 36-7 by Utah Valley State College Saturday on the HPER field.
With less experience and weight on their team, the Aggies found it difficult to compete with UVSC the way captain Bryce Baxter said they would. UVSC set the tempo for the game early in the first half by scoring a quick try.
The early lead put the Aggies on their heals for the rest of the half and made it difficult for the inexperienced team to play their game, said USU Head Coach Nev Pulotu.
“It came out of nowhere and it really shocked the guys,” he said.
With the early lead, UVSC was able to keep the Aggies from scoring the first half and most of the second.
Pulotu said being behind in the game didn’t stop USU from doing other things it has worked on.
The Aggies made UVSC work hard for every point by making and finishing tackles.
“We played a real solid game,” Pulotu said.”We only had one mistackle that lead to a try for UVSC, but other than that our tackling was great.”
In the second half the Aggies’ hard work paid off and they earned their first and only try of the match.
About 25 minutes into the second half, USU kicked the ball from the scrum just past the goal line and as it bounced back across the line the Aggies picked it up and ran in for the try.
Although they were held to only one try during the match, Pulotu said the team felt it played well.
Out of the 15 players on the field, 13 were playing for their first year.
“They only out beat us because they had more experience than us,” he said. “I think we did very good.”
-csmo@cc.usu.edu