BYU men’s rugby gears up to clash with its Orem rivals

Despite coming off of a big win against the Air Force Academy, BYU is still looking to improve their game plan and team chemistry for this next game against UVU.

In their first game of the season, BYU was able to take home a win against the Air Force Academy, 56-0. Even though the Falcons were no match, the Cougars had unforced errors that they are hoping to clean up for this next game.

“We didn’t have very many practices leading up to the Air Force game, … we had new guys in new positions so the game was a bit messier than we would have liked.” said scrum half, Strider Fountaine, when asked about the game against the Air Force Academy. 

Inside center Cole Semu said that the team has put in a lot of preparation between intense practices, conditioning, weight-training, and film study on both a team and personal level all to help them stick with and develop the process they began at the beginning of the season. Semu is confident that this will help them to “dominate” against the Wolverines.

“This is a statement game for us,” said team captain Benjamin Austin. “UVU is a solid side in our conference so this game will go a long way to show us where we currently stand and how to improve going forward.”

This will be the first time that BYU will play UVU since 2021 due to their last game, scheduled earlier this year, being canceled. 

“We have some big goals this season and both our senior and new players understand that it will take a high level of commitment to reach them,” said Austin. “These goals motivate us.”

With 23 new players, this will be an opportunity for the Cougars to show the work they have put in since their encounter with the Falcons, just two weeks prior, and how it will aid them in getting a strong win against the Wolverines.

BYU will play UVU tomorrow at 12 p.m. at UVU