This article was published in the BYU Daily Universe on January 24th, 2011
The BYU men’s rugby team began the season 3-0 with a convincing sweep of three Southern California opponents this weekend.
The Cougars rolled to two victories, beating Division II champion Claremont Colleges 86-0 and league rival San Diego State University 69-0.
The second team also got a chance to represent BYU in a 25-10 win against the University of San Diego, leaving the record a perfect 3-0 to start the season.
With impressive showings from veteran players and freshmen, team captain Ryan Roundy said the team came together this weekend.
“Everyone’s buying into the program,” Roundy said. “Everyone’s buying into the system.”
The four-day trip allowed the team to integrate its new freshmen into the mix.
Freshman twins Josh Whippey and Jared Whippey, from Fiji, combined for nine of BYU’s 30 trys over the weekend. At one point in the victory against SDSU on Saturday, Jared scored three trys in a row in 11 minutes. Josh had a similar showing against Claremont Colleges on Thursday with four first half trys.
When asked about his big trys against rival SDSU, Jared responded humbly.
“It was a good team effort,” Jared said. “I didn’t think too much about it. As long as we were getting points, I was happy.”
BYU has played SDSU tight in its past few meetings, with a come-from-behind victory in the final four of their 2009 championship run and a 36-22 hard-fought battle last year in Provo. This year, the Cougars had their number in a much more convincing fashion.
Vice captain Dylan Lubbe had nothing but positive things to say about the win.
“We are very proud of the weekend; we wanted to win three games,” Lubbe said. “I think the boys have got a confidence boost from the weekend. We want to prepare for each game as it comes and keep the wins coming.”
BYU will take a few weeks off to prepare for its next test, which will be a road trip to Las Vegas on Feb. 11 and 12 to battle two more league opponents, Cal Poly and Penn State.
Showing posts with label San Diego State. Show all posts
Showing posts with label San Diego State. Show all posts
Feb 16, 2011
Men’s rugby begins season today in Southern California
This article was published in the BYU Daily Universe on January 18th, 2011
The BYU men’s rugby team begins its season today with a series of tough games in southern California.
The team looks to make it to the national championship game this year for the sixth season in a row. But this year they will have to do it with a different cast of players.
The team returns all four of its first-team All-Americans this season, including captain Ryan Roundy, a junior from Holladay, and vice-captain Dylan Lubbe, a junior from South Africa. But the real question this year concerns the 10 new recruits.
Roundy said the recruits seem to be fitting in quite nicely.
“We’ve been very impressed by all of the good recruits,” he said. “They’re already on-the-field leaders, they’re not normal freshmen. ”
This weekend, the team is hoping to find out where they are and how far they have to go this season to reach their goals, Lubbe said. The team has trained hard during the fall semester and after winter break put in even more hours.
David Smyth, head coach of BYU rugby for 20 years, echoed Lubbe’s sentiments and said he looks “to build a good solid foundation to springboard to the rest of the season.”
Even with the talented recruits and returning All-Americans, Lubbe said the the team is taking a humble approach into the season.
“We’re not predicting anything, but we obviously have some high expectations for the team,” Lubbe said. “We just want to stay on track and do our best.”
Today BYU’s first team will take on Claremont College in Claremont, Calif., for its first game of the season, and the first match ever between the two programs. Claremont boasts a strong team after winning the Division II national championship last year against Temple, and will be looking to start its season with a win. The game will start at 5 p.m.
On Saturday the Cougars will travel to San Diego for a 3 p.m. game against San Diego State, whom BYU beat in 2009 in the semifinals and last year in Provo.
BYU’s second team will also get a chance to play the University of San Diego on Friday and the San Diego State second team on Saturday.
The BYU men’s rugby team begins its season today with a series of tough games in southern California.
The team looks to make it to the national championship game this year for the sixth season in a row. But this year they will have to do it with a different cast of players.
The team returns all four of its first-team All-Americans this season, including captain Ryan Roundy, a junior from Holladay, and vice-captain Dylan Lubbe, a junior from South Africa. But the real question this year concerns the 10 new recruits.
Roundy said the recruits seem to be fitting in quite nicely.
“We’ve been very impressed by all of the good recruits,” he said. “They’re already on-the-field leaders, they’re not normal freshmen. ”
This weekend, the team is hoping to find out where they are and how far they have to go this season to reach their goals, Lubbe said. The team has trained hard during the fall semester and after winter break put in even more hours.
David Smyth, head coach of BYU rugby for 20 years, echoed Lubbe’s sentiments and said he looks “to build a good solid foundation to springboard to the rest of the season.”
Even with the talented recruits and returning All-Americans, Lubbe said the the team is taking a humble approach into the season.
“We’re not predicting anything, but we obviously have some high expectations for the team,” Lubbe said. “We just want to stay on track and do our best.”
Today BYU’s first team will take on Claremont College in Claremont, Calif., for its first game of the season, and the first match ever between the two programs. Claremont boasts a strong team after winning the Division II national championship last year against Temple, and will be looking to start its season with a win. The game will start at 5 p.m.
On Saturday the Cougars will travel to San Diego for a 3 p.m. game against San Diego State, whom BYU beat in 2009 in the semifinals and last year in Provo.
BYU’s second team will also get a chance to play the University of San Diego on Friday and the San Diego State second team on Saturday.
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