In a sold-out showdown, BYU’s rugby team overcame the winter weather, beating Utah 15-10 in the Wasatch Cup on Saturday afternoon.
The win against the Utes guarantees the 2009 national champion Cougars will be the No. 1 seed in this year’s USA Rugby collegiate playoffs.
“Leading into this game we knew it would be a battle,” coach David Smyth said. “We’ve seen them play and we know they’ve got good players.”
With six inches of snow covering the field only 24 hours before the game, members of the grounds crew were kept busy clearing South Field. The field conditions definitely factored into the level of play as players for both teams struggled at times to maintain control on the wet ground underfoot.
Chase Jardine scored a try with a pass from Thretton Palamo to give BYU a 9-5 halftime lead.
“We know we’re a good team,” BYU junior Joey Mount said. “The coaches told us not to underestimate what Utah could do.”
Feeds 
Just doing my duty to keep the record straight and maintain some respect for Our Boys and BYU's greatest sport...
By winning the Wasatch Cup match, BYU secured the No. 1 seed from their respective territory... that is, they aren't the No. 1 seed overall as there is no such thing. And if any critic were to pick one, it would be #1-ranked Cal Berkeley.
Also, Chase Jardine scored a try off a long pass from Thretton Palamo to give UTAH a try... not BYU! (Journalist's first time writing about rugby? Honestly... the BYU men’s rugby team is drawing a larger crowd than soccer ever has, and yet no one knows what even happened??? You can do better… maybe watch the game on BYUTV before writing.)
The real story is Shaun Davies kicking 5 penalties to get BYU any points at all. It's about BYU surviving a host of mistakes by both teams to escape with the win. It was an intensely physical and hard-fought match that BYU was truly lucky to pull out... none of the players, coaches, or fans from either side would dispute that fact.
My apologies to the BYU Rugby team for the Universe’s lack of respect after a truly epic battle of a game against archrival Utah… nevertheless, those of us that were there and know and care about the team will support you no matter what… Go Cougars and BYU Rugby Forever!
The reporter was correct with the information on the seed. That win over Utah actually does give the BYU rugby team the #1 seed going into the national playoffs. It's not a ranking, it is the actual #1 seed in the round of 16. They seed the teams 1-16. Some of those seeds are set now (such as BYU at #1) and others will be set after the territorial playoffs at the beginning of April.
It was awesome to see the stands full on Saturday. The rugby team has great fans who follow the team all over the country. I'm sure the team loves seeing those guys at every game.