Pygmies Secure First Win over El Paso

Photo, right: NMT center Mike Bauer takes the ball into a tackle during rugby action Saturday on the NMT campus. Bauer scored one of Tech's six tries in the Pygmies' 38-12 win over the El Paso Scorpions.

SOCORRO, N.M., Oct. 4, 2005 – In the week leading up to last Saturday's match with El Paso’s Scorpions Rugby Club, it seemed prudent to keep things in perspective while aiming to maintain momentum. I didn't really expect the positive 38-12 result we eventually earned.

The weekend before, September 23-24, our New Mexico Tech rugby team had for the second consecutive year captured their small college division of the Northern Arizona Tens tournament, running away with the trophy by scoring 21 five-point tries to their five opponents’ combined total of five. Although the fellows were deservedly proud of their achievement, I reminded them the Pygmies had never beaten El Paso over the 32-year history of our program. In fact, during my early years with the Pygmies, the divide between the clubs was so wide the teams rarely appeared on the same pitch.

While our lads average less than three years of rugby experience, the Scorpions as a club (men’s) side have no such limitations and naturally enjoy a size advantage to boot. I remember the Scorpions well from my playing days at UNM and later in Santa Fe, and know them to be a skilled and fiercely competitive outfit, historically fond of the physical aspects of our collision sport.

Still, a significant number of the Pygmies had never seen El Paso play, so who was I to dampen their spirits? The fellows worked out the soreness with some lighthearted touch rugby Tuesday evening, and we got down to a hard training session Wednesday, working to improve ball-winning skills that had let us down two weeks earlier in a sour 19-17 loss to New Mexico State University.

Photo, left: NMT fullback Josh Hanson touches down a five-point try against Holloman Air Force Base in Socorro Saturday. Tech's Pygmies scored a 38-12 victory over the El Paso Scorpions while the reserve team dropped a 19-12 decision to Holloman.

When the Scorpions arrived Saturday, I could see they’ve been through a rough patch. Maintaining numbers and top form has always been an up and down cycle for amateur rugby clubs in this country, and El Paso looks to be in a valley this season. They barely had the requisite fifteen players, and I read wounded pride in the eyes of New Zealand-born coach Doug Park as he accepted two of our younger players as reserves.

There can be a world of difference between opportunity and deed, but on this day the Pygmies seized their chance with their historic 38-12 victory. Although we made plenty of second-half handling errors which kept the score respectable, the boys pretty much dominated play all day, which pleased their growing fan base. Moving to flanker due to a scarcity of available seasoned forwards, Matt Nelson showed skills acquired as a part-time backline player, scoring three tries in the second half. His colleague at number eight forward, Steve Huelskamp, played his usual strong game and was named Man of the Match by his teammates.

In fact, it was co-captain Pat Garcia's eight forwards who carried the day. In the second half especially, our backs passed poorly, but the forwards were always there to bail them out. Hooker John Rundberg hit the airborne rookie Matt Kretz with a variety of lineout throws and the entire pack wheeled the Scorps’ scrums to advantage time and again. In addition to Nelson's second half exploits, backs captain Patrick Simons scored two tries and his partner Mike Bauer got one, all in a 19-point first half. Pat was also four for six on conversion kicks.

On the "up" side of those rugby ups and downs, a newly-revived Holloman Air Force Base team took on our "B" side in a second match, edging our youngsters 19-12. The score was not a concern compared to our fellows' continuing ed, and even more significantly, this was the first day I can remember in my six years here that we've been able to field two fifteen-man sides.

This Saturday, Oct. 8, we'll host the Brujos Rugby Club of Albuquerque at 1 p.m. The Brujos are another men's club side struggling a bit this year. The trick throughout this week's training will be that of trying to stave off overconfidence. I don't know of a sports coach at any level who's figured that one out, so if you've got any ideas, let me know!

-NMT-