Big XII Champs

The Aggies won the first ever Big XII 7s Championship this weekend (Oct. 15).  Texas A&M went 4-0 against tough opposition, winning the final in dramatic fashion.  The win qualifies the Aggies for the National 7s championship which currently looks to be hosted on campus in College Station. 

The Aggies began the day with a 21-7 victory over a very physical Texas Tech team.  Tech was a very athletic side and scored first in the affair before the Aggies reeled off 21 unanswered points for the win.  TAMU followed up with a dominating performance against Kansas State in which they secured a 31-12 victory, winning Pool B.

In the semi-finals the Aggies faced University of Texas.  Texas has forged an identity as a 7s school and were really hoping for a win against the Aggies.  Playing the most physical match of the day, the Aggies completely shut down the Longhorns and spent virtually the entire match in the opposition end.  A&M was denied a couple of tries when one player went into touch before crossing over and another on a knock-on at the goal line.  However Brian Guillen's try (9:30) and conversion proved to be the difference in an exciting 7-0 win for the Aggies.  Guillen had a magnificent match, especially on defense where he shut down the Longhorn's main threat throughout the game.

Brian Guillen scoring one of his 5 tries on the day

The final was a thrilling overtime affair between the TAMU and University of Oklahoma.  The match began with a unconverted Tyler Gessner try (1:30).  The first half then settled and was a back and forth affair with the Aggies dominating most of the possession.  Right before the half, Oklahoma managed a pop kick over the Aggie defense, scoring a try under the posts.  The Sooners took a 7-5 lead into halftime.  Guillen scored another fantastic try (11:30) which he converted late in the second half.  It looked as if the Aggies had the match sewed up and just needed to win a lineout deep in Sooner territory when the unexplicable happened.  A&M was penalized for not throwing 5-meters at the lineout and OU took the tap and scored a long-try under the posts right before time expired.  The Aggies who had been solid on defense all day, missed a number of tackles on the run.  All the Sooners had to do was convert a simple kick to get the win, but miraculously the kick went wide right and the game ended tied 12-12.

Oklahoma kicked off in the 3-minute overtime period.  The Aggies wasted no time - Conor Mills made a line break fending off 3 tacklers before off-loading to a hard charging Matt Saladino who sprinted 30 meters for a thrilling try!  Saladino tacked on the conversion and the Aggies managed to avoid any other defensive lapses and walked away with the championship trophy!  This was an amazing team effort from top to bottom.  Congratulations go out to Brian Guillen and Tyler Gessner who were named the Aggie co-MVPs for the tournament.  Guillen finished the day with 5 tries, while Gessner had 3, and both had superb defensive efforts.

AGGIES NAME 2011 CAPTAINS

Junior Flyhalf Conor Mills was named the 2011 captain for Texas A&M Rugby.  Mills is a two-year starter for the Aggies and was their leading scorer last season.  Mills was a member of the Junior World Trophy team (that played in Tibilsi, Georgia) and the Western Collegiate All-Stars in 2011 and brings with him a wealth of experience to the leadership position.  Mills was very humbled and honored by his selection and stated, "I want to uphold the tradition established by all the Aggie captains over the years, and lead my team to a highly successful season."

Senior Braden Coleman was chosen as the 2011 vice captain.  Braden is a veteran prop who started throughout last season.  He has demonstrated a tremendous amount of physical toughness and the ability to lead by example while in College Station.  Braden is soft-spoken, but lets his actions speak for themselves.

The Aggie rugby community is very proud to have these two fine gentlemen as their captains and know that a great deal of success will accompany their selection.

Wallabie in Lone Star Country

This last weekend (Sept. 17-18) a number of Texas coaches had the privledge of getting to work with Australian coaching legend Bob Dwyer.  Dwyer, who won the 1991 World Cup with the Wallabies, presented his style of running rugby to those in attendance.  Dwyer is a humerous and engaging speaker and had his audience paying close attention throughout the two-day clinic.

Dwyer emphasized the utilization of proper technique in pressure situations, claiming this it is the key to playing successful rugby.  He discussed the point that players will take poor options (rugby is a game of mistakes), but proper technique guards against those poor options.  "Give it a crack, and if it doesn't work, then keep giving it a crack.  As long as you are using proper technique, there are no bad options," said Dwyer.

Mike Penistone, a Leicester coaching legend, was also part of the clinic and discussed the importance of properly structured practice.  According to Penistone, a practice consists of three elements: 1)Teaching technique, 2) Applying that technique under pressure, 3) Applying the technique in a game situation.  Penistone demonstrated a number of drills and games which illustrated his concepts.  Like Dwyer, Penistone was entertaining and spent a great deal of one-on-one time with each of the coaches answering questions which was invaluable.

Aggie Coach Mills, Bob Dwyer, and Coach Jim Wolfinger

Both coaches underscored the importance of creating space and using space once it is created.  Dwyer feels closer spacing and quicker ball movement is a key element in creating space.  He also discussed the importance of staying away from static play in contact and the need for teams to devoid themselves of the stop-start game.  Another element of this philosophy was the stress on a narrow attack in order to concentrate the defense while then attacking the space created.  Once this has been accomplished ball carriers must be properly supported and the team must constantly realign.

This was a brilliant weekend and well-worth the time spent.  Kudos go out to Dave McPhail (President of TRU) and the Woodlands RFC for putting on such a first-class event.  Bringing in such quality coaches is a testiment to the committment of the TRU in raising the level of coaching throughout Texas.

Aggie 7s Tournament



The very first Aggie Sevens Tournament was played at the Penberthy Rec Sports Complex on Saturday, Sept. 10.  The tournament featured teams from TAMU, UT, University of Oklahoma, Baylor University, and Sam Houston State.  The Aggies entered four teams in the competition - varsity, varsity II, junior varsity, and a developmental side. 

The varsity side played extremely well after only a week of practice and managed to play their way into the championship game before losing to OU 20-7.  The Aggies had defeated the Sooners 21-0 in the opening game of the tournament, but did not have enough left in the tank in the championship game.

All the A&M teams played a physical style throughout the day and it was a great learning experience for the large number of new players on the Aggie's squad.  Director of Rugby Craig Coates did an excellent job of organizing the tournament and making it a enjoyable day for everyone.