Match Report: OSU vs. U. Washington (10/13/2018)
Preparation for our first NCRC league match was turbo-charged by the return to Corvallis of head coach Troy Hall, who was back with his family the prior week. Our training sessions were excellent and the boys were well prepared to launch into our league season. Our results on the day reflect the investment we're making to rebuild Beaver Rugby.
It was a great day up in Seattle on UW campus. Full size 70-meter wide pitch (we love that!), sunny warm day, and our OSU boys were fired up and ready to bring their best after a lukewarm friendly the prior week vs. Willamette U. We won the travel – early arrivals and team dinner on Friday night. And we came out on Saturday ready to play. Energized and focused for our first NCRC league match of the year.
The final score was OSU 83 – UW 7 (no typo there!). UW dropped out of the league last year on a game scheduling dispute, and they are clearly in rebuilding mode this year – and the Beavers just had too much talent, energy and solid execution on the day. Too many individual scores to recount, but here’s a summary of our 13 tries:
·#12 Juwan Johnson – 4 tries on solid strong runs up the middle.
·#13 Tejas Godbole – 3 tries on heads up ball handling, shifty footwork and speed.
·#15 Cameron Castle – 2 tries, one after good passing on a penalty quick tap, and the second off an 80-meter explosion up the touch line.
·#6 Kyle Lantow – try scored on a heads up pick up of loose ball in the ruck.
·#8 Alan Hopper – try scored off strong run up the middle.
·#11 Dane McKinney – try scored on a solid run up the touch line.
·#14 Jackson Davis – another try this week by our shifty rookie winger pouring on the speed for a 70 meter sprint up the touch line, following a nice set up pass by front row Zach Eckholm.
·#13 Tejas Godbole kicked well – 9/13 on conversions on a wide pitch on a windy day.
We focus big time in training on consistent execution of ball handling and we’re clearly improving on that element – we had very few knock-ons and turnovers off loose handling, and our backs really had a field day. Forwards were solid for 80 minutes, winning the battle of the gain line, and giving us the lion’s share of possession and field position. Our 10 (Kieran McCullough) – 12 - 13 combination is playing solid defense with hard line speed and reaping rewards of consist work together three nights a week. #9 Aaron Velazquez delivered reliable accurate ball off scrums/rucks, and our deep 3 backs (Cam Castle, Dane McKinney, and rookies Wyatt Dillman and Jackson Davis) bring speed and athleticism and strong tackling to round out a strong back line attack. Locks Caleb Stanley and Jake Kasiah brought strong runs and stinging tackles, and all of our forwards, starters and impact reserves, brought good energy and toughness to solidify a strong win.
The score line was 47-7 at halftime and we were encouraged that our 8 reserves got plenty of playing time in the second half -- bringing solid results, conceding no tries and posting another 36 points. That’s the solid impact we are looking for from our full 23-man lineup. We are very pleased to have 30 or more players out at every training session thus far, reflecting an enjoyable and challenging culture we’re building with this young team. It also gives us the great benefit of 15-on-15 scrimmaging during practices, which is great fun and good for developing game-time management.
This Saturday (Oct. 20) we host Boise State U. on SLP turf field (11:30 KO) for our first home league match. The boys are well-prepared and we’re confident of bringing our best on the day. We have a second side match also planned for 1:15, potentially a 10-a-side game based on numbers Boise can provide.
Match Report: OSU vs. Boise State U. (10/20/2018)
Score at halftime: OSU 54 – BSU 7
Final score: OSU 66 – BSU 34
Our last meeting versus BSU, two years ago out in Boise, was a one-sided loss. BSU has been building a solid program with good recruiting and commitment from players and coaches. We didn’t know what to expect from BSU this week but came out determined to play our best ... and that’s exactly what we did.
Head Coach Troy Hall’s offensive strategy is raising our level of play dramatically, aligning with the modern game of rugby – fast paced, executing solid catch and pass and running lines, with options of attack on every phase. It requires a higher degree of vision and execution of basic rugby skills by all 15 players, and Saturday was a good test of what we have been building for Beaver Rugby over the last 14 months – has it only been 14 months!?
In the first half OSU displayed at times clinical execution of our game plan, and we simply shredded BSU’s defense. With multiple options on every attack we kept them guessing and hit wide open holes in the gain line to score 7 tries vs. 1 try for BSU. #13 Tejas Godbole’s kicking was excellent (8/10 conversions on the day) and we led confidently 54-7 after 40 minutes.
Our Forwards played a very strong first half with strong carries by hooker Gerod Latham, prop Rees Rosene, and locks Caleb Stanley and Jake Kasiah. Getting us across the gain line consistently put us on the front foot and set up our backs for aggressive attacks. Our Forwards set pieces were again solid, pushing BSUs scrum backwards consistently and taking several strikes against the BSU tight head. A perfect platform to create havoc from our dynamic back line…
In the first half, #12 Juwan Johnson hit hard crash lines and scored 4 tries up the middle, with solid execution off our multiple shapes on offensive attack keeping BSU guessing. Blindside wingers Wyatt Dillman and Dane McKinney likewise hit gaping holes opened up by BSU’s backline keying off #12 Juwan for easy tries. #13 Tejas Godbole again scored two tries this week, one off a nice line break and offload by #10 Kieran McCullough. All day long scrumhalf Aaron Velazquez delivered solid ball to Kieran, who executed our game plan well with backline attacks, taking it to the line with strong runs, and solid kicking for field position.
This week we are emphasizing the critical importance of playing 80 minutes of solid rugby as we did in last week’s win over UW (47-7 in the first half, and 36-0 in the second half with our impact reserves contributing a solid effort). Against BSU we let down a bit on defense – structure and 1x1 tackles – and hustle in the second half, yielding 5 tries for BSU vs. 2 tries for OSU. We will improve on those opportunities in practice sessions this week.
We were also pleased to get an abbreviated B-side match vs. BSU, and expect to get another B-side match this Saturday vs. the Ducks. For the first time in at least four years, we are getting a solid 30+ players out to every practice, which is critical for developing our second-phase game. Again, credit and much thanks to Head Coach Troy Hall for providing enjoyable, dynamic, challenging practice sessions that are keeping the numbers coming out for good fun with Beaver Rugby, and continually raising our level of play.
Last year our new Beaver Rugby team beat U of O twice. We know they will come at us hard – and we will stand up to the challenge. 11:00 kickoff at Riverfront Field in Eugene, followed by a 12:45 B-side match.
Games
We compete in the NCRC (Northwest Collegiate Rugby Conference) October-March, with NCRC playoffs on March 2 and 9. April is 7's Rugby season, culminating in the NCRC champship tournament April 27-28.
Here's our 2018-19 schedule currently (check back for updates throughout the season):
9/22/2018 - Team Culture Day, on campus 9 am - 7 pm: classroom session, on-field fitness testing, lunch, Adventure challenge, BBQ
9/29 - at WOU (9:00 am kickoff)
10/6 - Willamette University Friendly match, 3:30 pm kickoff at OSU Peavy grass field, 30th Street/Jefferson Way
10/13 - at U. Washington NCRC match, Seattle, 1 pm kickoff
10/20 - Boise State U. NCRC match at OSU SLP, 11:30 kickoff, second side kickoff at 1:15.
10/27 - at U of O NCRC match, Eugene, Riverfront Field, 11:00 am kickoff; first and second side matches
11/3-4 - PAC 7s Tourney, hosted by Cal Berkeley
11/10 - Friendly at COCC in Bend, 1 pm kickoff
11/17 - WWU NCRC match at OSU SLP
11/17 - team dinner and fall season wrap-up
11/20 - last formal team practice for Fall semester
1/7/2019 - Winter semester practices begin
1/12 - friendly match - TBD
1/19 - friendly match - TBD
1/26 - WOU at OSU SLP
2/2 - U. Washington NCRC match at OSU SLP
2/9 - at Boise State U. NCRC match
2/16 - at WWU NCRC match, Bellingham
2/23 - U of O NCRC match, at OSU SLP
3/2 - NCRC Semi-Finals
3/9 - NCRC Finals
4/1 - First Spring semester practice - April focus on 7s Rugby
4/6 - 7s tournament
4/13 - 7s tournament
4/20 - 7s tournament
4/27-28 - NCRC 7s Championship Tournament (qualifier for USA 7s)
Great Start to BSU Game!
