Monday, September 21, 2009
Typically, a rugby match is played with 15 players on each team. The men’s club rugby team went to Manhattan with 13. Kansas State took advantage of this, making the final score of the match 50-0.
The score, however, was not indicative of how the Jayhawks played short-handed. Both teams played very physically, the difference was the backline play (skill players, like wide receivers) of Kansas State.
“They used their numbers to their advantage, they always had overlaps on the outside, and they spun it out there whenever they needed to,” Nick Mancini, Los Angeles senior and team captain, said.
Matters got worse for the Jayhawks midway through the first half, when their 8-man, the player at the very back of the scrum, senior Adam Lauridson, had to come out of the game with what the team said was a fractured cheek bone, leaving the team playing three players short for the remainder of the game.
It dealt a large blow to the Jayhawks’ strongest part of their game, the forward pack. Scrummaging, which is a way to restart the game where both forward packs push against each other to try and win the ball, became an area that the Wildcats exploited. Out of the 17 scrums the Jayhawks had in their favor, they lost possession in the scrum nine times.
“In scrummaging we had to mix and match a lot of guys; much of our forwards were in a position they have never played before,” said Brandon Holland, Lawrence junior, who plays hooker but played prop in this match.
Even in such a lopsided match, there were positives and learning points taken from it.
“I thought our line-outs went fantastic, and our one-on-one tackling in the open field was very solid.” Mancini said. A line-out is how you restart play if the ball goes out of bounds. The Jayhawks lost only one line-out on the day because of the throw not being straight.
There is still hope for the team to make it to Westerns, the playoff system that teams from the Central Division compete to get into. For the Jayhawks, the road has gotten much more difficult. Only one team from the Central Division makes Westerns by playing Merit Table matches inside the division. Each team plays everyone home and away; the best record makes it to Westerns.
For now it is back to the practice field for the team.
“We need to get our numbers out at practice and games,” coach Matt Schwartz said. “We have a lot we need to work on in order to get better this season.”
Next week the team goes to Truman State to play its next Merit Table match.
“We are going to go home and regroup, then get ready for Truman State,” Holland said.
— — Edited by Alicia Banister
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