Rugby team fights the weather, Chico State
Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2007 @ 2:43 am
“It felt like we were playing on glass,” hooker Greg John said.
Nevada won 23-22 in a game that had more bloody knees than points.
The Wildcats led the whole game, but with 4:40 left Nevada took its first lead. Chico State fought the bitter conditions to get back into Nevada territory, but every time it did the Pack would just punt the ball away.
“We just kept trying to kick the ball whenever we’re on our side of the field,” coach Bruce Anderson said. “We want to do our best to get the ball out of our territory. Field position is very important in rugby.”
Chico State scored four tries (the equivelant to American football’s touchdown, worth five points) but only converted the points after (worth two points) on 1 of 4 attempts. Nevada scored three tries, converting on 1 of 3 kicks. The Wolf Pack had the edge on penalty kicks, though. Nevada’s Chad Gielow converted on two penalty kicks for a total of six points.
“(We need) confidence to improve as the season continues into March,” Anderson said. “It is a mixed side with new players and players with experience, and we are confident that we will do well this year. The side is yet to click as a team and that is what we are working on and at the same time, eliminating mistakes.”
Chico State’s tries were all on breakaways. Nevada will have to work on this by improving its tackling, coach Anderson said.
The close match epitomized the rivalry between the two schools.
“It’s kind of like the Yankees and the Red Sox,” John said. “Nobody here likes Chico. Dirty hits are expected. Stepping on heads with your cleats is part of the game.”
The rivalry usually stops when the clock expires. After the game the two teams settled their disputes by having a few drinks at Fritz’s Bar.
Nevada’s next game is at Stanford, Jan. 12.
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, December 11th, 2007 at 2:43 am and is filed under Other, Sports.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Print this post
Email this post
© 2008 The Nevada Sagebrush
December 12th, 2007 at 12:14 pm
That was an awesome game. I had a great time in the snow and can’t wait for the next one.
December 12th, 2007 at 2:05 pm
Good game! Shame about the ref though - spoilt it with his love of kittens and I think that even the Milkybar Kid would have kept better control! Sexy voice though! I’d blow his whistle if it meant he’d penisise me!
December 15th, 2007 at 12:02 pm
It is about time the Sagebruch covered all sports at the Univeristy of Nevada. I understand the goal is to chase after the big newspapers but you are still a school paper. There needs to be a balance between award seeking and covering issues that are important to students. Thanks for the press.
December 21st, 2007 at 3:15 pm
I did not know we had a rugby team. Would like to see more coverage.
January 28th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
I think this is the first time in 5 years that I’ve seen the rugby team in the news. Good job, mens team!