Truman State University Rugby (Kirksville, MO)

Captain and Vice Captain for 2007-2008
Captain - Justin Lacy
Vice Captain - Phil Powell

2008 Club Officers
President - Josh Harris
Treasurer - Dustin Homer
PR / Recruiting - Alex Koenen & Imran Mohammed

Fall 2007 Awards
Outstanding Forward - Leonard Stephens
Outstanding Back - Dustin Homer
Outstanding Rookie - Matt Engelbart
Most Improved Player - Jake Uhlenhake
Alan Chapman Service Award - Tim Hage
Funniest / Most Memorable Moment - The "Houdini Try"

Homecoming saw 18 Truman Rugby Alumni back in Kirksville for the annual Alumni Game. The Alumni used superior skill and cunning – and Josh Leuktemeyer’s speed - to overcome a spirited, but clearly undersized Truman Rugby team. The Truman Alumni fielded a very strong team featuring players from as recent as the 2006 team back to the 1980’s. The Alumni demonstrated that they didn’t forget too much about playing the game, as they schooled “the boys” in Rugby Basics 101 – Alumni style! For some, that means whatever the referee doesn’t see is legal!! It was an enjoyable match and everyone seemed to have a good time.

The game was played in four 20-min periods with lots of switching and substitutions. The match official was Jason Buschman (1992) – he got a feel for what it’s like for both teams to be mad at you at the same time! After the first period, the Alumni led 10-5. The Alumni scored on a driving maul that was touched-down by Tom Tajkowski and a break-away by wing Josh Leutkemeyer. Truman’s score came from junior center, Dustin Homer. In the Alumni game, the person who scores must also take the drop-kick conversion, which typically keeps the score down, and adds some comic relief. None of the three conversion attempts were even close!

The Truman team was looking forward to the second period, because they thought the “old guys” would start running out gas. However, the Alumni scored two more times; Leutkemeyer scored again and managed to convert his try, and then Brennan Delaney lumbered over for a try. The best part of Brennan’s kick was that his foot hit the ball this year. Truman got another try – this time from captain Justin Lacy who also managed to sneak his conversion through. The score after two periods was 22-12. At this rate Truman was scoring one try for every two of the Alumnus – and at that rate you will usually lose!

In the third period, the only score came from Leutkmeyer’s third try of the day, and the score stood at 27-12 beginning the fourth period. By now the Alumni were sure to be exhausted, and the Truman guys would roll on them! It started well enough. Leo Stephens had rumbled down the field several times during the game, and early in the fourth period his "break-away" and offload to Dustin Ralph resulted in a try near the goal post. Unfortunately, Dustin shanked his conversion attempt, with the score 27-17 in favor of the Alumni. Late in the 4th period, Kevin Byerley scored to close out the game at Alumni 32 – Truman 17.

After the game everyone gathered for a barbeque to catch-up and meet the new guys. The Alumni were again very generous, and their total contributions to Truman Rugby were just under $3000. Thanks! Your support is much appreciated, and the Alumni's investment in the team will be used to help keep costs down for the current players - like the support they received from those Alumni before them.

If you would like to make a donation to Truman Rugby, you can send your donation - payable to “Truman Rugby” - to Bill Sexton at 1409 East Meadow Lane, Kirksville MO 63501. Alternatively, you can log on to the Truman website and make your donation electronically using your credit card. Click here to go to Truman Online Donations. Be sure to click on “Other” and type in “Men’s Rugby” in the box to ensure that your donation gets to the team.

Thanks to all the Alumni that attended the 2007 game. We hope to see you all back next year (we promise great weather again!) and hope to see more Alumni. Thanks to the parents and friends who attended this and all other matches this fall. We hear you and appreciate your support! And special thanks to Dr. and Mrs. Ralph and to Mr. Hage for providing post-match food and refreshments after some matches this fall.

We were frustrated in our first Central Collegiate Division I league match of the 2007-2008 season, and we lost a close game to K-State. Unfortunately, three starting players were not available due to injury. However, our young players stepped-up and performed well. We fielded 6 freshman players – 5 who began playing in fall 2007. So you can’t be too upset! K-State on the other hand, had a good compliment of experienced players and strong young players, and we were pretty evenly matched. In truth, both teams played a little sloppy at times, but there were also very good moments for both teams. We had our share of chances, but impatience cost us some good attacking ball, and we came short in a game that we could have won. We just aren’t there yet. But it will come!

The weather was beautiful, with a strong southeasterly breeze. The field was not in the best shape, since the football practiced on it last Tuesday when it rained. (Something we hope will stop!) After some back and forth action, K-State got on the board with a penalty goal at 16 min, and missed a second at 29 min. However, K-State scored an opportunistic try off a tipped kick that came to a K-State player on the run, and they scored an unconverted try at 32 min to take a 8-0 lead. Right before half-time - with the referee telling us that it would be half at the next stoppage – all we had to do was win our lineout and kick the ball into the car park. Instead, we won our lineout and then fumbled the ball inside our 22 m red zone. K-State recovered and we had to defend like maniacs, and were lucky that a K-State player knocked-on or they would have scored easily.

Truman picked-up the tempo in the second half, and played K-State about even. We were not, however, able to convert the effort into points. K-State got through and scored another unconverted try at 19 min to take their lead to 13-0. With 20 min to play, it was now or never. The teams picked up their intensity. Will Holleman missed a penalty kick at 25 min, but Tim Hage was able drive over for a try a couple minutes later. The conversion was no good, and Truman was down 5-13 with 10 min to play. We kept the pressure on, but inexperience, impatience, and perhaps a little selfish play undid us on several good movements. The match ended with Truman 5 and K-State 13.

SCORING
Tries: Tim Hage
Conversions: 0-1 (Will Holleman)
Penalties: 0-1 (Will Holleman)

NEXT GAME: vs. University of Iowa on Saturday, October 6 at 1:30 PM. Venue TBA.

Young Truman team puts in great effort against the Bombers’ "B" team (September 22, 2007)

Going into week #3 of the fall season, several starting players were banged-up and needed some time off. We are fortunate this fall to have 27 players on the roster, and we have reserves ready to step up. Against the Bombers’ “B” side, we fielded 7 freshman players, of whom only three had played rugby in high school before coming to Truman. In fact, at the beginning of the second half (after some substitutions), 6 of 8 forwards began playing rugby in August 2007! There is no better way to learn to play than to play!

Truman gave up some size to the Bombers, and had to work very hard in defense. Truman missed a penalty kick attempt at 7 min. The Bombers pushed hard into the Truman red zone to score an unconverted try at 13 min, and against at 19 min, to take a 10-0 lead after 20 min of play. At 23 min, Truman executed a nice driving lineout, rolled once, before senior prop, Leo Stephens bulled over to score a try. Will Holleman’s conversion attempt was wide, and the score stood at Truman 5 – Bombers 10. The Bombers scored a converted try off some very nice continuity to take a 17-5 lead into halftime. Since we were only playing two 40 min periods, we made mass substitutions to assure everyone playing time. Unfortunately, we came out of halftime a little flat, and the Bombers score right away to take their lead to 22-5. Despite hard work and some aggressive play, the Bombers scored a converted try at 17 min. Truman was able to hold off the Bombers, and were unlucky to allow a try at full-time, for a final score of: Truman 5 – Bombers 34.

SCORING
Tries: Leo Stephens
Conversions: 0-1 (Will Holleman)
Penalties: 0-1 (Will Holleman)

NEXT GAME: vs. Kansas State University at Home on Saturday, September 29 at 1:30 PM

MATCH: Truman vs. University of Missouri (September 15, 2007)

In our second match of the season, we traveled to Columbia to take on rivals the University of Missouri. The SLU match the week before identified a number of key things we needed to work on - such as fitness, concentration and better attacking ploys. We accomplished some of those goals, but feel short on the score board, largely due to our inability to control play and our possession. We coughed-up lots of ball in the tackle, made too many knock-ons, and lost too many of our own rucks. Scrums were better, but lineouts still presented a problem, as we often had trouble securing out own clean ball. Fitness was better.

Both teams came out fast, looking to make something happen early. Mizzou generally had the territorial advantage and only some good defensive efforts kept MU Off the board early. The scoring opened in the 14th min, when Truman center Will Holleman converted a penalty goal to take an early 3-0 lead - shades of the SLU game. Unfortunately, loosehead prop Alex Koenen, injured his calf, and had to come off. He was replaced by rookie prop, Brian Sammons who performed admirably for the rest of the day. Unfortunately, and just like the SLU game, MU pushed right back into Truman territory to score a converted try just a few minutes later to take a 7-3 lead . MU scored another try (conversion no good) at 27 min to lead 12-3 at the half.

During halftime, we talked about cleaning up our rucks, making better passes, and doing a better job of controlling our ball in the tackle. The second half saw MU put in two more converted tries (at 9 and 27 min), to hold a 26-3 lead with 13 min to go. Captain and #8, Justin Lacy, took a knock to the head, and was replaced by freshman Chris Schneider with 10 min to play. Truman was playing "OK", but tended to botch every scoring opportunity, letting MU off the hook time after time. We did continue to play hard, and were rewarded with a try by scrumhalf Dustin Ralph at 33 min (conversion missed). There is certainly something to be said for never quitting! Final Score: Truman 8 - MU 26.

SCORING
Tries: Dustin Ralph
Conversions: 0-1 (Will Holleman)
Penalties: 1-0 (Will Holleman)

"B" game: Following the first match, the "B" team played, losing 34-10. Truman got tries from rookie wing Brad Mares and rookie scrumhalf Aaron Loida. This was the second match for most of the "Killer B's" and they uniformly showed great improvement. They played hard, but were over-matched in terms of experience. The half-time score was 12-5 in favor of Mizzou "B", but experience and fatigue won out in the second half, despite some fine individual efforts. This was valuable experience for the coming weeks. Perhaps a highlight of the day was the appearance of Truman Alumnus, Chris Bell, at flyhalf. Chris did a great job of moving the ball and providing a positive leadership model on the field. Perhaps his tenure this past spring as a high school rugby coach has calmed his fiery temperament. Thanks, Chris!

NEXT GAME: vs. St. Louis Bombers "B" side in Maryland Heights, MO (at the Sportport Soccer Compex) on Saturday, September 22 at 4:00 PM

Truman Men's Rugby opened the fall 2007 season against St. Louis University in Marceline, MO on Saturday, September 8th. Truman has only 14 players returning from spring 2007, and looking to rebuild this fall. Fortunately, we have 10 new players (and growing) and look to be on-track to get our numbers back up. Both Truman and SLU came out playing hard, and both teams made their share of mistakes. SLU looked most dangerous with ball in the hands of their flyhalf, but choose to grind it out in their forwards. The performance from Truman was actually better than expected, showing early control of scrums, and good execution in the lineout. The backs attacked well, but were unable to put together good line-breaks and were unable to score. Truman's defense held well, and tried to act on SLU mistakes. The match was scoreless for the first 20 min, when Truman center Will Holleman, converted a penalty goal to take an early 3-0 lead. However, SLU and pushed into Truman territory on a slashing run by the SLU #10, that lead to a try at 22 min. The conversion was missed, and SLU had a 5-3 lead . Five min later Truman was penalized, and SLU converted the penalty to take a 8-3 lead into halftime. During halftime, we talked about tightening up our backline defense and being more aggressive going into contact. Unfortunately, fatigue began to take its toll, and the quality of play deteriorated on both sides. There is something to be said for determination, and Truman started to put more pressure on SLU. This lead to several forays into the SLU half, and ultimately to a try at 25 min by scrumhalf Dustin Ralph. The conversion was wide left, and the score was tied at 8 - 8. Truman pushed back into the SLU half, and was awarded a penalty at the SLU 22 meter line at 27 min. The penalty was converted by Holleman, taking the score to 11-8 in favor of Truman. The team held tough for the last few minutes, and came away with a come-from-behind win. The Truman players were justifiably excited about the win. But they clearly recognized that they need to be much fitter, and that we need to clean up several aspects of play. On the positive side, we showed heart in the face of physical fatigue, and we defended reasonably well. More work to do before next weekend's match with Mizzou. Final Score: Truman 11 - SLU 8.

SCORING
Tries: Dustin Ralph
Conversions: 0-1 (Will Holleman)
Penalties: 2-0 (Will Holleman)

"B" game: Following the first match, the "B" teams played one 25 minute period. Despite lots of effort and generally good play, the score remained a 0 - 0 tie at the end. However, both teams got a number of rookie players on the pitch. Everyone performed well, and gained valuable experience.

NEXT GAME: vs. University of Missouri in Columbia, MO on Saturday, September 15 at 1:00 PM

Spring 2007 Truman Rugby Award Winners
Outstanding Forward - Mike Fitzgerald
Outstanding Back - Tony Giubardo
Outstanding Rookie - Dustin Homer
Most Improved Player - Jake Uhlenhake

Copyright © 1997-2008 by
Truman State University Rugby
c/o Center for Student Involvement
Student Union Building
Kirksville, Missouri 63501.
e-mail: rugby@truman.edu
All Rights Reserved.
URL http://rugby.truman.edu/men
Last Modified 02/28/08

Fall 2007 Match Reports

Young Truman team puts in great effort against the Bombers’ "B" team (September 22, 2007)