Rugby team crushes ISU
its first match at home on Saturday.
Flank Chris Price said having Cespedes as coach makes a big difference in the team’s progression by keeping them organized and motivated.
“You get the outside perspective on everything,” Price said.
Scoring came from several players all over the field as the Aggies dominated the Bengals in the first half and then held on for their second win of the season even though the Bengals surged late in the game, scoring 12 second-half points.
“In the first half, we really played to our potential,” hooker Dave McConnel said. “The second half we didn’t play the mental aspects of the game.”
Utah State scored first on a try by flank Bo Hacking in the fourth minute for five points. The conversion kick by fly half Vini Latu was good to put Utah State up by seven.
Hacking blasted through the ISU defense three minutes later to put down his second try on the day. His score was right between the uprights, giving Latu great position for the conversion. But the fly half’s kick went wide left.
In the 12th minute, Latu scored a penalty kick to add three points to the Aggies’ cause. The Aggies were about to conclude an impressive run when they were brought down in an illegal manner and the referee awarded the Aggies an opportunity for a kick at the center of the pitch where the foul was made. Latu, who takes all kicks for the Aggies, put his chance straight through the middle of the uprights for the score.
Flank Chris Price grounded another USU try in the 17th minute. With several ISU players hanging on him, Price rumbled into the try zone just left of the uprights for the score. The ensuing kick from Latu was no good.
The Aggies scored again on a try from scrum half Nate Neagle in the 23rd minute. Neagle was on the receiving end of a long team run with several lateral passes. Neagle received the ball along the sideline and got in for the score just before an onrushing Bengals player landed on top of him.
ISU finally got on the board nearly a half hour into the game. Their conversion was good to make the score 25-7.
Just a minute after the Bengals scored, Latu hit a 35-yard drop goal – similar to a field goal – to give the Aggies three points.
To close out the half, first-year player Nate Anderson scored his first try of his rugby career. Anderson chased down a bouncing ball that was kicked upfield by Latu and dropped into the try zone for the score.
“Vini made a good kick,” Anderson said. “I just played off Vini’s good play.”
Price scored his second try of the day 15 minutes into the second half. The flank drove in for the score while Latu’s conversion was good to give Utah State a 46-7 advantage over Idaho State.
“It’s always fun to score,” Price said. “We had a lot of people score today, which is good.”
As the second half wore on, Cespedes said his team slowed down and began letting ISU have more time to react to the game.
The Bengals responded to the USU lapse by scoring three unanswered tries before the end of the contest.
“We let them score,” Cespedes said. “[We] fell asleep.”
With the win, the Aggies’ record improved to 2-4 on the season. Their next match will be this Saturday against BYU at the rugby pitch on the HPER field. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.
– stm@cc.usu.edu