By Tyler Webb
Trash-talking, players being taken to the hospital, and a low-scoring game haven”t been associated with BYU rugby games this year, until the team played the University of Utah on Saturday, Nov. 3.
The Cougars had their lowest point production of the season in defeating the Utes 29-5.
“Even though the score wasn”t 83-0, I”m still happy because it is a victory,” said BYU head coach David Smyth.
The game was scoreless until the 18-minute mark when BYU punched in a try for the first score.
The first half was filled with mistakes, penalties, and mental errors by both teams. The Utes managed to take the Cougars out of their game with a barrage of verbal assaults and hard hits.
Cougar rugby player Pierre Fourie was taken to the hospital for precautionary measures after a hard hit he sustained to his neck.
Smyth said the Cougars took two steps forward and one step back with all the mistakes they made. He said BYU must improve on a lot of the little things before it can be a great team.
“We tend to panic at the wrong times, and today was the wrong time to panic,” Smyth said.
BYU made some adjustments at halftime, and came out more focused.
“Coach Smyth laid into us at halftime and reminded us what we were capable of doing,” said Kevin Vest, 23, a senior from Colleyville, Texas, majoring in finance.
Smyth”s pep talk worked, as the Cougars ran off 17 unanswered points. The team held the Utes to their lowest point total of the season.
Smyth said he told the team they needed to quit making so many stupid mistakes and penalties. He said many of the mistakes must be overcome with more playing experience.
The best part of the Cougars” game was not their traditionally high scoring offense, but their steady defense. Smyth said everyone was fulfilling assignments on defense throughout the game.
“The coaches prepared us well for this game, but we just played down to their level,” Vest said. “We are a better team than what we showed today.”
Vest did say one of the factors in the Cougars” victory was that the players are proud to play at BYU.
At stake in this game was the Wasatch Cup. The winner of this best-of-three series takes home the Cup trophy, sponsor money, and bragging rights.
“Once we win the Cup, it should be a motivating factor for us to keep on winning,” said freshman Brad Macfarlane. “We plan to keep winning when we play against Reno this Friday.”
