Dr. Loftin Pays a Visit to Aggie Rugby



Dr. Loftin with members of the Old Maroon, Coach Mills and Coach Johnson

Texas A&M University President Dr. R. Bowen Loftin joined us before Saturday's match against Sam Houston State.  It was a great honor to have him at the game pitch and get the opportunity to visit with him.  We hope he continues to visit regularly -thank you Dr. Loftin!

Aggies v. Sam Houston Photo Link

The link below has photos of the TAMU v. SHSU match:

Aggies vs. SHSU: http://photobucket.com/TAMUvSHSU-022313

Aggies Demolish Bearkats

The rugby press and pundits had the Aggies as an underdog in their ARC opener against Sam Houston State University.  On the D1-A site, Sam Houston State was picked to "shake off their loss to Tech last week and come out strong against a struggling A&M team."  The Aggies received little respect in recent weeks due to losses to LSU, ASU, and BYU, all of whom are quality teams (BYU - 2012 National Champion - ASU 2012 Runnerup).  However, the Aggies played well against BYU and were anxious to prove their critics wrong; something which did not bode well for the Bearkats.  The Aggies are always tough at home, but with the added incentive provided by the media, they played with a renewed determination and purpose.  The result was a 105-7 victory - statement made - don't quite count the Aggies out yet.

 

Chris Frazier had his usual strong day against SHSU

The Aggies made a number of lineup changes going into the match.  Internal and eligibility issues resulted in some major rearrangement amongst the starters.  Lukas Jacobson moved to scrumhalf from his usual fullback, Brian Guillen shifted from wing to outside center, Dylan Starks from wing to fullback, and Matt Krath made his first start at #11.  With that many changes in the back division there was some pre-game concern about continuity among the backs, however, this proved to be ill-founded - flyhalf Conor Mills managed the offense to perfection and the backs ended up scoring 7 tries on the day.

 

The match started out inauspiciously for the Aggies when SHSU's flyhalf stepped in front of a pass at the goal line for an intercept try - film showed that he was at least 5 meters offside.  The Ags bounced back after a couple of long runs and scores by Lukas Jacobson and Brian Guillen.  The Aggies then began to roll offensively - scoring 55 unanswered points before the half.  The forwards dominated the breakdowns and set-pieces, while Mills kept the backs moving, alternating between deep kicks and attacking. 

 

The second half was more of the same as the Aggies scored another 50 points.  Centers J.D. Smiley and Brian Guillen both had hat-tricks on the day, while John Deao, Andres Diaz, and Philip Hanson all had two tries apiece.  Mills led all scorers with 22 points on 11 conversions.  He also had 5 assists during the match.

 

This was a fantastic team effort and all the players that were in the 23 played well.  It was exciting for the Aggies to receive a reward for all of their hard-work especially after enduring a rough three weeks.  The Man of the Match (forward) was Andres Diaz and the Man of the Match (back) was J.D. Smiley.  The Aggies now prepare for this week's matchup against a resurgent Baylor program. 

Aggies Announce Lineup for Baylor Match

The Aggies announced their lineup for the Baylor match which will take place in Waco at 2:00 pm Saturday (03-02-13). 

1. Garnett

2. De la Garza

3. Brito

4. Hanson

5. Deao

6. Diaz

7. Frazier

8. Demblon

9. Theodore

10. Mills

11. Krath

12. Smiley

13. Guillen

14. Starks

15. Jacobson

16. Chapman

17. Dowlearn

18. Turner

19. Howell

20. Larsen

21. McMath

22. Soni

23. Correa



Senior Center Brian Guillen

Tough Loss Against BYU

The Aggies travelled to Las Vegas to play defending national champions BYU (02/09/13).  After two disappointing performances (LSU and ASU), the Aggies were looking to restore some equilibrium.  However, BYU is an immensely talented squad and it looked like an uphill battle for TAMU going into the match.  In the end, BYU came out on top 44-5, but the final score is not indicative of the effort exhibited by the Aggies.

 

Lukas Jacobson offloads against BYU

The Aggies played an extremely physical and for much of the match, solid defense.  Unfortunately, like all great teams, the Cougars were able to turn small Aggie mistakes into points.  "I felt we played our best match of the season, but we cannot have mental lapses at key points," said team captain Conor Mills, "This is match we can use to build on for the rest of the season. We played extremely hard today and despite the final, I could not be more proud of the guys."

 

The Aggies managed to keep the Cougars tight early, much of it as a result of BYU penalties.  “Texas A&M is a solid team,” said BYU captain Ryan Roundy, “We wanted to try and put them under some pressure, but it sort of came back to bite us a bit early on.”

 

Eventually BYU's talent and size came into play and they managed to run in a series of tries in the second half to stretch the final score.  "We played a huge amount of defense today and our tackle count had to be over a hundred," added Mills, "I think our work rate began to drop a bit toward the end of the game as a result."

 

In the end, Aggie fans can be proud of the effort put forth by the team against the defending champion.  The work rate, spirit, and physically toughness demonstrated against BYU will provide the foundation for the rest of the season.

Congratulations to the Men of the Match for the BYU game - Dylan Starks (Backs) and Chris Frazier (Forwards). 

Picture Link for BYU Match

Below is the link to pictures from Texas A&M's match against BYU in Las Vegas.
 http://photobucket.com/TAMURFCvBYU-020913

Aggies Announce Lineup for Sam Houston State

The Aggies announced their lineup for this Saturday's ARC conference opener against Sam Houston State University.  Kickoff is scheduled for 2:00 at the Aggies game pitch off of University.

1.       Armando De La Garza

2.       Andres Diaz

3.       Francisco Brito

4.       Phil Hanson

5.       John Deao

6.       Danny Amsler

7.       Chris Frazier

8.       Alex Demblon

9.       Lukas Jacobson

10.   Conor Mills ©

11.   Matt Krath

12.   J.D. Smiley

13.   Matt Saldino

14.   Dylan Starks

15.   Brian Guillen

16.   Dickson Garnett

17.   Grayson Dowlearn

18.   Robert Chapman

19.   James Howell

20.   Robert Larsen

21.   Kaleb Cornitius

22.   Trigun Soni

23.   Chris Ross

 



Senior Andres Diaz

Photo Link for Arkansas State

Here is a photo link for last Saturday's match against Arkansas State University.
http://photobucket.com/TAMURFCvASU-020213