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Truman defeats K-State 37-7 in first league match
Truman started the 2006-2007 Central League season with a win over Kansas State University in Manhattan, KS.  K-State has one of the best rugby facilities in the Midwest, playing their matches in the Old Stadium on campus.  The surface is new , high-tech field-turf and the players enjoy playing in this facility.  Truman opened the scoring at 7 min when Mike Fitzgerald picked from his #8 position and out-raced the defense 45 m for try under the posts.  Outside center, Will Holleman converted for the early 7-0 lead.  K-State drove the ball back down the field, and continued to pound away, and were rewarded at the 16 min mark with a converted try. (7-7).  Three minutes later some quick ball-handling lead to a Holleman try (unconverted 12-7).  K-State pressured Truman hard, but the defense was solid, and K-State was repelled.  At 34 min, Fitzgerald slipped free to score his second try of the match (his 5th in the last two matches).  Fitz’s try was converted for a 19-7 lead.  Just two minutes later, the fullback Dustin Ralph sprung rookie wing, Xavier Jackson who ran 50 meters to score a converted try.  The half-time score was Truman 26 – K-State 7.

The second half opened with a Truman converting penalty kicks at 42 and 59 minutes, to take the score to 32-7.  Jackson broke free for his second try of the match at 56 min.  The conversion was not good, and the score stood at 37-7  K-State and Truman continued to push back and forth up the field for the balance of the game.  Both teams worked hard and played some inspired rugby, and both played well  on defense.  Truman lost some of their rhythm when freshman flyhalf, Phil Powell, had to leave the match after bending his wrist back during a tackle.  Unfortunately, Powell has a broke his radius just above the wrist, and will be out for the balance of the season.  Final Score: Truman 37 – Kansas State 7.

SCORING
Tries: Fitzgerald (2), Jackson (2), Holleman
Conversions: Holleman (3 of 5)
Penalties: Holleman (2 of 2)

NEXT GAME: Saturday, October 14 vs. University of Kansas at 1:30 PM at HOME

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Truman tops Washington University 50-7
In the  final match before the start of league play, Truman took on Washington University from St. Louis.  Wash U has a young growing team with some very good athletes, and they are also preparing for some upcoming league matches in the Missouri Union (Truman is in the Heart of America union).  The match was not a particularly well played by either team.  There were too many basic mistakes, and a lack lf consistent development of a real pattern of play.  However, Truman was able to seize opportunities and score.  Truman scored 7 tries, with Vice Captain and #8 Mike Fitzgerald scoring three.  Other try-scorers included; Dusting Ralph (2), Taurean Johnson, Tony Giubardo, and rookie Xavier Jackson.  Will Holleman converted 5 of 7 tries.  The final score was: Truman 50 – Washington University 7.

SCORING
Tries: Fitzgerald (3), Ralph (2), Johnson, Giubardo, Jackson
Conversions: Hollewell (5 of 7)
Penalties:

NEXT GAME: Saturday, October 7 vs. Kansas State University (Manhattan, KS) at 1:30 PM

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Truman show improvement in 22-39 loss to Kansas City RFC match
The men of Truman Rugby headed to Kansas City this past weekend for a match with Kansas City RFC “B”. The opponent for KC “A” was not able to attend. That left Truman playing mixed combinations of KC A, B and C side players. Ultimately, it made for a harder outing, but also for a better test. Truman and KC played 3 – 30 min periods. At the end, it was Truman 22 and KC “combined” 39. Not too bad for such a young team. In fact, the starting 15 had 3 seniors, 1 junior, 7 sophomores, and 4 freshman. Further, despite coming up short on the score line, the improvement over our first outing two weeks was marked. With luck, we will continue to improve as we prepare for our upcoming league matches in October against K-State, KU and Nebraska.

To their credit, Truman played tenacious defense and put up a couple of spectacular goal-line stands to repel the KC attack early on. You can’t coach heart – players either have it or not – and this appears this team has heart (the New Zealand coach for KC actually came over to the team after the match to tell them as much). KC finally cracked the Truman defense to score an unconverted try at 10 min. Their lead was short-lived as Truman executed a nice rolling maul from a 10 m lineout, that went to center Tony Giubardo who scored under the post. The conversion was no good, and the score was knotted at 5-5. KC scored again at 29 min just before the end of the period to take a 5-10 lead.

Into the second period, Truman had a good rhythm, and scored at 9 min using a “Sally” play to drive Mike Fitzgerald over for a converted try for a 12-10 lead. However, KC began to get their own rhythm, and scored three tries (one conversion) in the half to hold a 12-27 lead after 60 min.

Some wholesale changes saw everyone getting some playing time.  Despite some good play from our contingent of rookies, sophomore Mike Pieper was on a roll. Playing #8, Pieper had four long runs, two that he took to the end goal for tries. KC score two more tries and a conversion in the period to hold a final tally of Truman 22 – KC 39.

Overall, this was a great rebound and a solid performance after the slow start this season. With about half the team being new players, a big part of the job is teaching everyone both to play, and to understand our approach to the game. Everyone is very excited for our game this weekend, to see how we will perform against a solid collegiate team.

SCORING
Tries: Giubardo, Fitzgerald, Pieper (2)
Conversions: Hollewell (1 of 4)
Penalties:

NEXT GAME: Saturday, September 30 at HOME vs. Washington University (St. Louis) at 2:00 PM

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Truman fall to MU 22-5 in season opener
With the loss of 11 players from spring 2006 (6 to graduation, three overseas, and two injured), Truman started 5 new players, including two rugby rookies, against MU.  There were moments were we looked completely in control, but there were times when our inexperience and lack of fitness lead to disarray.  MU has a lot of experience and are very athletic.  They were strong on defense and were able to capitalize on our mistakes, scoring four tries and a conversion.

However, before we get too concerned, let’s remember that we have only had two weeks of practice.  We are still teaching the game to our new players, and our game plan is not fully instituted.  We have players who are still learning the game.  And we clearly aren’t match fit.  The benefit of this loss will be that we have it on videotape and we intentionally planned for a week off before our next match to work on our fitness and game plan before we play again, and in advance of our league matches.  From my perspective, we will be fine.

Truman opened the match and was in control early, and worked the ball well into MU territory.  MU’s defense held and they were able to eventually clear the ball, and go on the attack, leading to a converted try at 19 min.   Truman’s attack was sporadic and often we would lose possession after several phases due to breakdown in support.  Our attack seemed flat, despite hammering runs from Josh Harris (inside center) and Tony Giubardo (outside center).  MU was tenacious on defense and held.  Another MU try at 30 min lead to a 12-0 halftime lead.

Play improved for a while in the second half, however, as fatigue began to settle in, coverage faltered and we had more breakdowns.  MU scored at 22 and 34 min of the second half to hold a 22-0 lead with time winding down.  With  virtually no time left in the game, and playing only for pride, Truman began to put it together, pushing through a series of good phases leading to a ruck inside the MU 5 m.  Scrumhalf Peter Swingle slipped around the right side of the ruck to score.  The conversion was not good.  The game ended soon after with a final score of Truman 5 – Missouri 22.

Special kudos to our five new players who started this match; 1) Our brand new second rows, Dan Aten (DeSmet High School) and Dylan Zini (rookie) who were excellent in the scrums and lineouts, 2) #8 Mike Deckard made some bruising runs, 3) Wings, Phil Powell (Druids, St. Louis) and Andy Vien. (rookie) who “flew” across field to tackle a MU player into touch-in-goal preventing try.

SCORING:
Tries: Swingle
Conversions: Holleman (0 for 1)
Penalties: Holleman (0 for 1)

In the “B” game, we fielded six more brand new players, who were supported by players from the first game.  The “Killer B’s” won 12-0 on two tries from coach Tom Tajkowski and Dustin Ralph (playing scrumhalf), with a Will Holleman conversion.  The most exciting part was watching the new players, those from the first match and those who had never played before, begin to “get it” and begin rucking and supporting more effectively.  All together, we had 11 new players take the field for Truman this  weekend, and they are all physically talented and promising.

NEXT GAME: September 23 vs. Kansas City Rugby Club “B” side in Kansas City (details and directions to follow)