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Jr. Bills face significant opposition in season opener

SLUH’s rugby team rolled out for their first game of the season against top-ranked Germantown, a club team from the Memphis area. Expectations were high following the Jr. Bills’ National Tournament appearance last year as they faced off against a nationally-ranked opponent at Lindenwood University. Germantown had a significant height and weight advantage over the Jr. Bills which posed a significant challenge.

“They are big kids who play a good, clean, hard nosed style of rugby,” said coach Brian Corrigan through a post-game email.

The wind at kickoff was rather harsh and proved to be an issue for the entirety of the first half. The game started strongly for the Jr. Bills as they held the line against Germantown but they eventually broke down as Germantown continued to punch the ball through with the use of their forwards.

“It was apparent right from the start that we were in a dogfight, one which our boys weren't backing down from,” said Corrigan. “However, we eventually wore down, and Germantown started to pull away.”

Germantown played a ferocious game, attacking the rucks and poaching multiple balls away from the Jr. Bill attackers. They actively exploited their size advantage throughout the match as they whittled away at the Jr. Bills defense. 

With this being the first game of the season, there were bound to be a lot of nerves and it showed throughout the match through simple mistakes and mental errors.

“Our main problems came down to our veracity on defense. There was a little bit of mental slacking,” said Leo Smith. “I think there is definitely some mental toughness that we need to build up to play stronger, hit lower, and just fight. Also just some more game knowledge of when to pass and where to run would really help.”

Even with a 15-0 deficit at halftime, the game was still well within reach as the Jr. Bills now had the wind to their backs and might be able to use that to their advantage. Unfortunately, the opportunities were not capitalized on as the Jr. Bills ended up dropping the first match of the season 30-6.

“Having played and coached rugby for three decades now, that game was anyone’s for the taking until about the 20 mark in the second half,” said Corrigan. “If we had a few bounces go our way or made the stop at the end of the first half, it very easily could have been a much different outcome.”

After the match's conclusion, the coaches discussed the circumstances of the loss and what they hope to see moving forward. While winning is always a top goal of the program, having an innate joy for the game as a collective unit is far more important.

“The best thing I saw out of this group was their collective unwillingness to quit all the way up until the final whistle,” said Corrigan. “From my experience, a team with heart can accomplish a lot.”

“I was not particularly happy with the outcome because it was a loss, but I was definitely glad to be back playing rugby,” said Smith. “I was thankful that it wasn’t a grave loss or like a steamroll because it gave us some much-needed real game experience and it was many guys' first game. The second best thing is winning, the first best thing is having fun and I had a lot of fun.”

The rugby team will be taking on a combined North County and Howell team tonight at 7:00 in the SLUH football stadium as their first game against in-state competition. This game marks the first step in the quest for another state championship game appearance for the team.

“North County had some very good players last year. Howell did as well, but they were more of a big and physical team than skilled,” said Corrigan. “Therefore, I expect another physical battle. We have to mentally prepare for a similar style of a game as Germantown. We'll need to match the physicality and opportunistically pounce when the chances are there for us.”

 

 


 

 

 

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