Written by
Jessica Snider, SMT Writer
Jonesboro, Arkansas - Saturday afternoon, the Arkansas State Rugby opened the 2013 spring season with a 70-7 victory over Texas A&M in a Division 1-A pre-season match. This match up was featuring the "A" squad, and another victory for Arkansas State was taken by their "B" team over A&M's "B" team.
The Arkansas State "B" team left with a huge 96-0 win over A&M on Saturday afternoon. These two matches marked the first competition of the new year since the rugby team won the national college 7s championship in December.
First year head coach Alex Houser commented on the match, "I know this may sound a little strange because of the big score, but we really did not play that well in the first match.We were impatient and turned the ball over a lot."
Coach Houser stated that he was much more pleased with the play of the "B" team during the second match. "We played a lot better. The guys played with more discipline and more patience. We played really good rugby."
As many people may know, Dexter's Theo Gaul is a member of the ASU Rugby team this year. Gaul is a 2012 Dexter High School graduate and is currently in his freshman year at Arkansas State.
Gaul is a member of the B team, which plays after the A team on most matches. Gaul commented that being on the B team as a freshman is not bad especially since they're the # 2 ranked college rugby team in the nation.
"Saturday was the first game of the season so we're still a little bit rusty," said Gaul.
The Red Wolves return home to play an intrasquad game, weather permitting, set to be held Saturday, February 9th at 1:00 P.M. at ASU'S Rugby Stadium.
"We are looking forward to a challenging spring schedule as we try to build from the momentum the program has gained from our recent success in finishing second in the nation in 15s last spring and winning the national championship this fall in sevens," Houser said.
You can stay tuned to the ShowMe Times for more information on the Arkansas State Rugby Team as their season progresses!
