Texas A&M tops Tech and Texas over Sam Houston

College Station, TX, March 23, 2013 - Texas Tech Rugby rolled into town ready for a hard fight against a game Texas A&M and got exactly what they expected. Texas A&M maintained steady pressure both defensively and offensively on the Red Raiders by sticking to their pattern of play regardless of the tough inside defense they met. Texas Tech did not help themselves as they missed too many overload opportunities out wide due to poor ball handling and lost too many scrums against the head as the Aggies simply drove over the ball.

Texas Tech was not without some bright spots, though. Outside center Kyle Kulka played a blinder of a game. Kulka kept the game from being a blow-out by bringing down Lukas Jacobson and Brian Guillen on numerous occasions. Kulka also kept the Red Raiders in the mix with a deft pass to fullback Jared Baird who jetted past Aggie lock John Deao for a second half try. Tech's backrow also contributed to the blow-out prevention. Nathan Hatton, Christian Knebel, and Jordan Trout - all three out-sizing their opposite numbers on the day - played the grinders at the breakdowns all day, sullying A&M's ball retention efforts.

Texas A&M played a steady pressure game all day. Defensively the Aggies gave Wes Mitchell and Patrick Evenson more than they wanted at the 10 & 12 channels. But when Tech showed spark, A&M began to grind them down with multi-phase possession that would pick and roll 3-4 times, spin the ball wide, pick and roll a few more times, then spin it wide again. Several times, flyhalf Conor Mills delivered a timely flat pass to Jacobson or JD Smiley just as they were stepping through a gap. Too often Tech fullback Jared Baird would be the only man standing between an Aggie ball-carrier and the in-goal area. Baird's tackling was sure on the day, but spot-on tackling only works well when the ball-carrier has no one in support. A&M rarely made that mistake.

Mitchell, Evenson, and Baird slipped through the Aggie defense once each for Tech's three tries. Evenson struck first, finding a seam after a long run by Abdul Sule and Kyle Kulka moved the ball into A&M's end of the pitch. In the second half, Baird found himself in support of a charging Kyle Kulka. With Jacobson set to tackle him, Kulka delivered a perfect pass to put away Baird in the corner. Mitchell's try came near full-time as he stepped into the Aggie attack to cherry pick a long pass. With his ears pinned back and his long-legs stretching out, Mitchell raced 70 meters with Aggies in pursuit for his five which he then followed with a conversion.

A&M notably denied Kulka & Sule access to in-goal on the day. If A&M's inside defense was not preventing the ball from moving outside, then Jacobson and Guillen were tackling these two relentlessly. Both Tech players displayed some brilliance on the day, but never enough to best the Aggies.

A&M's strikes came for all over. Locks Philip Hanson & John Deao increased their try count on the year one each. Deao at the beginning of the match with a powerful pick and roll. Hanson later by breaking several tackles on a weakside run of 40 meters. #8 Alex Demblon dotted down at the beginning of the second half from the back of a rolling maul. Conor Mills was gifted a try in the corner in the first half as both the referee and the AR were out of position to determine whether he was in-touch before dotting. Mills also slotted two conversions, two penalty kicks and a drop-goal. JD Smiley was denied his typical long runs through the #12 channel, but found himself in possession of the ball out wide in the first half. He dummied to wing Matt Krath, then stepped thru the the defenders to sprint 40 meters for his contribution to the score. In the second half, Mills delivered a perfectly timed pass to Jacobson as he stepped through the gap and aimed for Baird. Jacobson has already shown a tendency to barrel through lone defenders, so Baird broke down to tackle. Jacobson offloaded to an unchallenged Guillen at the last second, Guillen's score was certain and the last one A&M enjoyed on the day. A&M needs to bring this same level of offensive and defensive performance to Norman on next Saturday when they face the Sooners.

Huntsville, TX, March 23, 2013 - Texas easily overcame a dispirited and divided Sam Houston team by 65-7 on Saturday in a match that left both coaches and the referee overwrought. Texas never got off the gas and probably should have scored a few more tries as Wendy Young had to go to her pocket four times - three yellows and one red - on the home team. Texas hosts Baylor this Friday night at 7pm (not Saturday as originally listed).

Recap: A&M and Texas only need to win next week to end up facing each other again in the ARC championship match. For the Aggies, 'only' is a long word. A trip to Norman and playing at OU's very nice rugby pitch is an easy task for no team. And if A&M wins, then they revisit their traditional rivalry with the University of Texas one more time this season. But if OU wins, then the Aggies must turn around and play the Sooners two weekends in a row.

On that note, the ARC is in negotiations with St. Thomas High School in Houston to hold the conference championship tournament in Granger Stadium on April 6 and should possess final word on this issue soon. Hopeful negotiations for holding the same tournament at Haggar Stadium on the campus of the Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas (a neutral and relatively central location for all ARC teams) fell through and the ARC was forced to reconsider their venue.

St. Thomas realizes the value of bringing such venerated collegiate programs to their campus and introducing their soon-to-be matriculating rugby players to the coaches and administrators who are eager to coach them.

Should St. Thomas agree to hosting the tournament, The matches on the day will be live streamed on the ARC's Ustream channel at the following times: 3pm - 5th v 6th, 5pm - 3rd v 4th, 7pm - 1st v 2nd. Stay tuned to RuckBottom for more information on this possibility!