Thursday, March 28, 2013

Aggies Name Lineup for Oklahoma Matchup

The Aggies named their lineup for the match this weekend against the University of Oklahoma.
 
1. De la Garza
2. Diaz
3. Brito
4. Hanson
5. Deao
6. Amsler
7. Frazier
8. Demblon
9. Theodore
10. Mills (C)
11. Krath
12. Smiley
13. Jacobson
14. Guillen
15. Starks
16 .Garnett
17. Dowlearn
18. Semler
19. Cornitius
20. Larsen
21. McMath
22. Soni
23. Dishman


Wing Brian Guillen

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Aggies Take Out UT in Austin

The Aggie v. Longhorn rugby match is always a fiercely contested affair, but it has been some time since it actually had some meaning in regard to conference standings.  This year's matchup boasted two teams with 2-0 Allied Rugby Conference records and a great deal on the line in terms of championship implications.  The match was played in Austin, giving the Longhorns a homefield advantage, which they made the most of.  UT had a great crowd for game which added to the excitement, providing a true "Friday Night Lights" atmosphere to the event.
The game was played after a womens' match featuring UT and Texas State University.  The weather was cool with a stiff breeze which had a impact on the kicking throughout the game.  Veteran and well-respected referee Scott Green was the official for the match.
Initially the match featured a great deal of defense with very little in the way of offense.  The Aggies were penalized repeatedly at the breakdown and the Longhorns spent a great deal of time inside the Aggie half.  Aggie handling mistakes also added to their woes.  However, at around the nine minute the Aggies began to take control.  After a period of sustained pressure fullback Dylan Starks went over for the first of his two tries (8:45).  After a period of more interchange and constant shifting of field position, the Aggies scored again off a Phil Hanson try (16:40).  The Longhorns had been awarded a 5 meter scrum after an Aggie knockon, but a poor pass by Texas led to a mishandle and Hanson fell on the ball.  For Hanson, this was his sixth try of the year and puts him among the leading try scorers in the ARC.
The game settled into a give and take affair for the next ten minutes.  Both sides were playing hard-hitting defense which resulted in a number of knock-ons.  After a long J.D. Smiley run, the Aggies managed to push out of their own end.  An ensuing lineout was won by TAMU and the Aggies put together a strong maul which ended with Andres Diaz punching over for a score (25:10) giving A&M a 19-0 lead.  The Aggies went on the board again after the Aggies stole the ball against the head at UT's 45 meter line.  Theodore worked the ball wide to Mills, who passed to Jacobson, who offloaded to Matt Krath for the score (34:13).  Krath delivered a nice stiff arm to a Longhorn before rolling over for the try.   The final score of the half came after Mills had made a long run into Longhorn territory.  After a couple of phases, the Ags were awarded a scrum.  Theodore took the ball off the base and cut off the edge before scampering untouched for the score (42:30).  The score at halftime saw the Aggies in front 29-0.

Matt Krath scores a try against UT
The Aggies kept up the pace early in the second half when John Deao scored seven minutes into the half.  After multiple phases the Aggies worked deep into Longhorn territory.  TAMU received a penalty and Theodore took a quick tap before offloading to the ever-present Mando De la Garza.  Garza pushed to the goal line, but could not get in.  After a number of pick-and-goes, John Deao dove over for a try (49:39).  The Aggies retained the ball after the restart and after a UT penalty Mills hit a 40 meter penalty kick from the far left side (54:15) to push the Aggie lead to 39-0.

Texas finally got on the board after a series of Aggie penalties.  The Longhorn #8 Cotton took a quick tap and UT managed to to maul him over for a try (61:19).  The Aggies scored their final try of the match after Chris Frazier delivered a vicious hit to a UT back causing the ball to spill forward.  Theodore quickly transfered the ball to Dylan Starks who made a beautiful run through the Longhorn defense.  Starks offloaded to Guillen who appeared to be heading for a try when he was tackled.  He made a fantastic pop-pass back to Starks who dove over for the try (70:45).  This try was a wonderful display of teamwork and ball-handling skills.  The Aggies now held a 44-7 led with ten minutes remaining.

All credit to Texas as they did not give up.  They would come back and score two tries (75:14 and 78:50) in the final minutes.  Penalties, poor tackling, and fatigue all figured into the Longhorn scores.  However, this effort was way too little and too late.  The Aggies came away from the capital city with a convincing 44-17 win and went to 3-0 in conference play.  The Men of the Match were Chris Frazier (forwards) and Matt Theodore (backs).  Frazier had some devastating hits throughout the game and Theodore did a masterful job of running the forwards throughout the match.

The Aggies next opponent is the Texas Tech Red Raiders who travel to College Station for an exciting matchup on March 23.
  

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

2013 Scoring Summary (03-26-13)

TAMU Rugby Scoring Summary 2013
Player Tries Conv. PK DG Assists Total
Conor Mills 5 25 4 1 10 90
Andres Diaz 6 0 0 0 0 30
Philip Hanson 6 0 0 0 1 30
John Deao 5 0 0 0 0 25
Brian Guillen 4 0 0 0 2 20
J.D. Smiley 4 0 0 0 0 20
Lukas Jacobson 3 0 0 0 1 15
Matt Krath 3 0 0 0 0 15
Francisco Brito 2 0 0 0 0 10
Matt Saladino 2 0 0 0 0 10
Dylan Starks 2 0 0 0 0 10
Matt Theodore 2 0 0 0 0 10
Alex Demblon 1 0 0 0 0 5
Chris Frazier 1 0 0 0 0 5
Grayson Dowlearn 1 0 0 0 0 5
Totals47254114300

Friday, March 22, 2013

Aggie Name Lineup for Texas Tech

The Aggies named their lineup for Texas Tech this Saturday (2:00) in College Station:
1. De la Garza
2. Diaz
3. Brito
4. Hanson
5. Deao
6. Amsler
7. Frazier
8. Demblon
9. Theodore
10. Mills
11. Krath
12. Smiley
13. Jacobson
14. Guillen
15. Starks
16 .Garnett
17. Dowlearn
18. Howell
19. Cornitius
20. Larsen
21. McMath
22. Soni
23. Dishman

Aggies Crunch Bears

The Aggies travelled to Waco for an ARC matchup against the Baylor Bears on Saturday (03-02-13).  The Aggies were coming off a big 105-7 victory over Sam Houston State and wanted to continue building momentum heading into the UT matchup.  Baylor has made some amazing strides this season and continue to impress the competition with their toughness and desire.  The Aggies expected a hard match in Waco and had a good week in preparation.  The weather was cool and extremely windy in central Texas and many Aggies were beginning to wonder if they were ever going to play a match without wind.
The first eleven minutes of the match were exactly what the Aggies expected, with Baylor playing tough defense - denying A&M scoring opportunities repeatedly.  The Aggies continued to attack and their efforts paid off when lock John Deao managed to punch a short try over (11:20).  Flyhalf Conor Mills added a long penalty kick a short time later (13:30) which signaled the start of an offensive deluge for the Aggies.  Mills scored the first of his three tries on the day (18:40) off a long run, followed by the first of lock Phil Hanson's two tries (20:56).  Hanson had a breakout day, punishing the Bears with numerous runs through the heart of their defense.
Fullback Lukas Jacobson scored a nifty try, running through multiple defenders for a score (23:47) to keep the A&M offensive machine running smoothly.  Hooker Andres Diaz, who has been on a try scoring spree of late, scored the first of his two tries (27:12), giving the Aggies a 32-0 lead with time left in the half.  Baylor was still attempting to defend valiantly, but were quickly being worn down.  Grayson Dowlearn, making his first start for the Aggies at flanker, added to their fatigue when he intercepted a pass and ran it in from 45 meters out (33:05)  Mills finished the scoring for the half with a 50 meter try, smashing through the defense before out-sprinting the umbrella defense (41:16).  This gave Texas A&M a commanding 46-0 halftime lead.
The second half was more of the same with Mills opening the scoring with his third try off another lengthy run (46:13).  Matt Theodore (46:42) and Francisco Brito (51:58) added their own scores in quick succession.  Theodore's was especially exciting as he had been forced to sit out the first two months of the season due to a torn labrum.  Baylor finally got on the board with a penalty kick (60:00), making the score 65-3.  Unfortunately for the Bears, this motivated the Aggies to score some more.  Diaz (65:13) and Hanson (70:46) dotted down their second tries, both a result of good lines and support play.  Matt Krath finished the scoring for the Aggies after an assist by Hanson making the final score 82-3.
Senior Lukas Jacobson over for a try against the Bears
This was another fantastic team effort by the Aggies and demonstrated the offensive firepower they are capable of.  The win takes them to 2-0 in conference play heading into a critical match in Austin against UT.  Phil Hanson (forwards) and Conor Mills (backs) were named Men of the Match.  Hanson continues to impress and had a dominating game.  Mills ended the match with 32 points, a huge offensive effort and once again did an impressive job of marshalling his players.  

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Aggies Announce Lineup for UT

Captain Conor Mills leads the Aggies into action against UT
The Aggies announced their lineup for Friday night's matchup against the University of Texas in Austin (7:30).

1. De la Garza
2. Diaz
3. Brito
4. Hanson
5. Deao
6. Amsler
7. Frazier
8. Demblon
9. Theodore
10. Mills
11. Krath
12. Smiley
13. Jacobson
14. Guillen
15. Starks
16. Chapman
17. Dowlearn
18. Turner
19. Howell
20. Larsen
21. McMath
22. Soni
23. Garnett