El Paso RFC in 14-5 Victory over Pygmies

Feb. 23, 2005 -- Moral victory can be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it lends encouragement in the face of defeat. Coming close can also become a habit, though, which condemns a sporting team to always finishing second. New Mexico Tech's rugby Pygmies could have celebrated their courageous performance following Saturday's (Feb. 19, 2005) hard-fought 14-5 home loss to the El Paso Scorpions, but the lads were having none of that.

The game itself was as advertised by Scorpion coach Doug Park: an encounter with a men's club team composed of former high school players from the El Paso area, liberally sprinkled with older, more experienced players - a strong combination. The Pygmies had their hands full from the beginning, as our less-experienced forwards struggled for ball possession in the scrums and rucks. Although we had a slight advantage in the inbounds plays (lineouts) thanks to the improved throwing of our Man of the Match John Rundberg, a lot of energy was expended in tackling during the first half.

The first half's good news was the Scorpions were repeatedly denied scoring opportunities through improved defense by the Pygmies, and the home team even fashioned two distinct scoring opportunities by forcing El Paso into penalties in their own end of the field. Unfortunately both chances were botched, to the dismay of no one more than the Pygmies themselves.

Bolstered by their first-half performance, our guys drew first blood 12 minutes into the second half, when that man Rundberg slid over the line to cap a quick penalty play. We couldn't quite hold the line, though, and despite more heroic defense by the entire Pygmy side, the Scorps eventually scored two tries to carry the day.

In the absence of second-year captain and scoring machine Pat Simons at Saturday's post-match dinner for the Scorpions, rapidly-blossoming co-captain Pat Garcia personified the intentions of his teammates with his many post-game observations and suggestions for improving his team's game. Pat wasn't alone either, as the majority of the team spent hours that evening discussing the game, what we learned, and what we can do better. Hopefully our efforts will bear fruit this Saturday in Albuquerque against old friends and rivals the Brujos Rugby Club.

The thrill for me is the stirring of what I have long held to be a prime objective of coaching: to promote an atmosphere in which the players accept responsibility for their own success. Heady stuff and far more satisfying than a moral victory.

-NMT-