Tech Ruggers Disappointed in Colorado

by Dave Wheelock, Rugby Coach

The New Mexico Tech Rugby Club dropped their regular-season finale match to Fort Lewis College Saturday on a wind-blown Durango field, 29-17. The club finished their spring season at 4 wins against 4 losses, including their March playing tour to Ireland, where they won one and lost two matches.

The hometown team parlayed a strong tailwind into a 12-0 halftime lead, and although Tech rallied to briefly take the lead in the second half, the Skyhawks roared back with two late tries to ice the intercollegiate match.

This was a game Tech could have, and possibly should have, won. Although Tech's forwards dominated ball possession from scrums, lineouts, and rucks, they could not find a reliable way to breach the Ft. Lewis midfield defense, while errors of judgement also cost them some scoring opportunities. On the other side of the ball, FLC's two hard-running Australian players, Mike Board and Tim Horan scored three tries between them.

Tech was unfortunate with seconds remaining in the first half, as Board chip-kicked ahead and then outran Tech's deep men to account for the Durango side's two-try lead at the intermission. But for the visitors, the second half still offered the tantalizing prospect of a wind-aided kicking game, to be administered by freshman Patrick Simons, substituting for the absent Katsuya Sugimoto. In what was perhaps an omen of things to come, however, the stiff south wind abruptly shifted 180 degrees as the teams kicked off the second spell.

Still, after six minutes the Tech forwards were able to pinch the ball from the deep-attacking Skyhawks and work it outside to speedster Mike Bauer, who covered 80 yards of open field in a flash to bring the visitors to within 12-7, following the two-point conversion kick from Jason Lennane. Ten minutes later opposite wing Miguel Provencio blocked an attempted Skyhawk clearing kick and dropped on the ball in the goal zone following a penetrating run by Simons. Again Lennane connected and Tech eased into a two-point lead at 14-12.

NMT collected the following kickoff and advanced to the Ft. Lewis 25-yard line, where the defenders were caught offside and Lennane made good on the penalty kick to create a nervous 17-12 margin.

But in the remaining 18 minutes, despite tenacious tackling from Tech hooker Dan Meiser, the roof came down on the visitors in the form of the resurgent home team's three additional tries, one converted, to bring the final tally to 29-17.

This was the last match as Pygmies for three graduating Tech players. Prop forward Joe Hart of Albuquerque closes his tenure as ranking member after four years, including two international tours, to Wales in 1998 and Ireland earlier this year. Master's candidate and fellow prop Jason Lennane of Savannah, Georgia, has enjoyed a brief but fruitful career since entering Tech in 2000, while wing Israel Vaughn, also an Albuquerque native, moves on after three steady years in the black and blue jersey.