Photo Link for LSU and Baylor

Here is the photo link for this weekend's games:
http://photobucket.com/TAMURFCvLSU-012613

Aggies Fall to LSU in 2013 Season Opener

The Aggies lost 31-19 to LSU in the season opener on Saturday.  The results were very disappointing for the Aggies as they were not representative of the hard-work and dedication put forth so far this season.  LSU played a great game and were physical at the breakdown and the tackle throughout the match.  The Tigers were very deserving of the victory.

 

It was the "perfect storm" for the Aggies.  The Ags played their worst rugby of the last two seasons, looking lethargic throughout the match, were missing players, and were opening with a traditional rival.  Texas A&M was missing four starters (Chris Frazier, Andrew Stanley, Matt Theodore, and Jan Young) on Saturday. 

 

The Aggies played poor defense and missed a large number of tackles throughout the match.  However, it was poor execution in the lineout that proved to be catastrophic for A&M.  Missing the top two jumpers, Frazier and Stanley, the lineout went haywire and the Aggies won very little of their own ball on the day.  This changed the tempo and tactics of the game, allowing LSU to play on the front front throughout the afternoon.  The Aggies were also plagued by a rash of dropped balls and poor passes, which halted any momentum gained usually before it really got started.  There were also two clear 3 v. 1 breakaways that were sure tries that were poorly executed and went for naught.  LSU played hard defense and was solid at the breakdown which contributed to TAMU's issues.

 

Mondo De la Garza makes a linebreak

While the Aggies need to learn to deal with missing starters better, it was a huge blow to have Frazier and Stanley out to the lineup.  Frazier is one the most dominating lineout jumpers in the country and leads the defense with his hard-tackling.  Theodore and Young are both recovering from shoulder injuries and no timeline has been set for eithers return, but their lack of presence was felt as well on Saturday.

 

It appeared that the Aggies forgot that LSU was one of its oldest rivals, something their opponent had not.  LSU was mentally prepared for Saturday and played with an intensity that was missing from the Aggies.  This is an item that will be dealt with this week in practice as the quality of rivals over the next two weeks (Arkansas State and BYU) only gets tougher. 

 

Despite the dark clouds that hang like a pall after a loss, there were some bright moments in the match.  Wing Matt Saladino scored two tries off of long runs and prop Mondo De la Garza was amazing throughout the day.  De la Garza demonstrated his usual brand of physically punishing rugby and made numerous tackles and runs that were important at key points in the match.  Saladino was named Man of the Match for the backs and De la Garza Man of the Match for the forwards.

 

Also, the Aggies did not quit and scored right at the end of the match.  Actually, had the Aggies played the whole match like they did the last 15 minutes, they would have come out on top.  Hopefully a valuable lesson learned.  Both players and staff will be hard at work this week attempting to fix all that went wrong on Saturday.  In the end, this was the first match and not the last, so the Aggies have time to make some major improvements before conference play - and they will! 

 

 

Picture Links for Championships and ARC Awards

Here are the links to the recently-created TAMU RFC photos. 

 

1.       End-of-Season Banquet (April 2012)  http://photobucket.com/AggieRugby-2011-12SeasonBanquet

 

2.       National 7’s Championship Tournament (11.30.12 – 12.01.12):  http://photobucket.com/TAMURugby2012National7sChampionshipTourney

 

3.       ARC 7’s Awards Banquet (12.01.12):  http://photobucket.com/ARC20127sAwardsBanquet

 

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!

Texas A&M Rugby would like to wish all our family, fans, supporters, and alumni a very happy holiday season and Merry Christmas!  We are extremely thankful for all of your support throughout the year!  We invite everyone to come out and see us during 15s season!  Have a safe, warm, and joyful season - see you after the holidays!

Merry Christmas from the Aggies!

Final Thoughts on National Championships

Aggie National Championship Squad

The 7s National Championships have come and gone for another year - what an experience!  Texas A&M did another fantastic job hosting this event and some special thanks go out to some individuals.  Director of Rugby Craig Coates did his usual amazing work with logistics and providing direction to the event.  He served as our liaison with USA Rugby and did a masterful job getting everything ready!  We could not do these types of events without Craig.  A special thanks goes out to the Sports Rec and Keith Joseph along with his team.  Keith was awesome in getting the wheels of A&M running smoothly and making this a special event.  Again, an event of this caliber would not have happened without Keith and we appreciate him more than he knows.  Finally, I cannot express how proud we are of all the work the A&M players put in over a long period of time.  Chris Frazier is the epitome of what a president should be and serves with humor, selflessness, and tireless effort - well done Chris.  All of our officers have been outstanding.  Garrett Dishman is the man!  He organized and managed all the volunteers over the course of the event and did it with Aggie hospitality and a smile on his face (which is quite a feat when dealing with college rugby players and a large crowd).  Well done to everyone - we can be proud of the event, the hospitality we provided, and how we represented Texas A&M University and Aggie Rugby!

Lets not forget that the Aggies played in the tournament as well - finishing 8th!  We are thrilled about the top ten finish, but at the same time disappointed because we felt we were a fraction away from finishing much higher.  We played an extremely tough St. Mary's team right down to the wire, and had we taken advantage of our opportunities, we could have pushed through with a win.  This could have been huge as it would have given us someone other than Life in the Cup Quarterfinals.  We played Life extremely tough throughout the first half and had we been awarded Theodore's score, we would have been 10-5 or 10-7 at the half.  This would have been a huge difference and given us some momentum.  The Navy match was right down to the wire and had we not played such a poor first half, we could have beat Navy.  I think the emotions and physical nature of the St. Mary's and Life matches took too much out of us.  Plenty of analysis to build on for next year, but in the end it was an amazing 7s season.  Our guys played fantastic from the beginning to the end.  Like life, rugby is a journey and we learned a lot about ourselves - what we are capable of, where our weaknesses lie, how much work is required to be successful, and how important the mental and team aspects are.  Throughout the season I told the team that there is no other group of people I would rather take this voyage with than these guys.  I am extremely proud to have been along for the journey and cannot in words express my gratitude and love for my Aggie players - well done men! 

Thank you Jeremy!!

Coach Jeremy Stewart will be stepping away from rugby this spring (we hope not for long!) and we thought this would be a good time to say thank you for all his tremendous effort and leadership over the last three years at Texas A&M.  The team has experienced a great deal of success while Coach Stewart has been at A&M, and his departure will be a blow to all of us who work with him.  We are all extremely fortunate to have known Jeremy and be associated with him.  He is a wonderful coach, but more importantly an amazing person! 

 

Coach Stewart with Coach Mills at the National Championships

 Jeremy is a rare commodity in the rugby coaching community..the type of guy everyone likes.  His kindness, quick smile, empathy, and great sense of humor make a major impact on all those he meets and works with.  Jeremy will be deeply missed this spring and our deepest hope is that he will return to his "other" family soon!  Best of luck Jeremy - we can't imagine what it will be like without you!

 

Aggies Recieve Best Team of the Series Award

Texas A&M Rugby received the Best Team of the ARC 7s Series Award at the recent Allied Rugby Conference Award Ceremony.  The Aggies had a combined (Varsity and JV) record of 23-2 and neither of the losses came against conference competition.  They finished with a 166 series points with runner-up Texas Tech (16-8 overall) getting 120 points.  University of Oklahoma finished third with 116 points.

 

Coach Mills receiving the award from ARC Director Johnny Smith

This is a fantastic honor for the Aggies and they were very proud to accept the trophy.  "We feel extremely honored to recieve the first ever Best of Series Award," said team president Chris Frazier, "This is a great reward for all the hard-work and dedication, we have put in!"  The team hopes to continue its 7s success in 15s this spring.