Pygmies Tune Up for Championships with Win over Brujos

Dave Wheelock, NMT Rugby Director

Right: NMT hooker Waylin Sieler of Palmer, Alaska, prepares to pack down a scrum supported by props Nick McCarthy (L) and D.J. Santistevan (R). Photo by John Rundberg.

SOCORRO, N.M., March 26, 2007 -- A reunited New Mexico Tech Rugby Club team delivered an emphatic if not flawless 41-5 home victory Saturday, March 24, to set the stage for the Pygmies’ quest for higher glory in two weeks’ time.

A host of Tech veterans returned from the vagaries of injury and mid-semester academic priorities to make amends for recent indignities inflicted since the Pygmies claimed their Rio Grande Rugby Union collegiate championship against New Mexico State University on February 17. In the absence of several regulars, the Tech club had been bested in recent weeks by the El Paso Rugby Club and, on March 3, this same Brujos team in a formalized scrimmage in Albuquerque.

New Mexico Tech will represent the Rio Grande Rugby Football Union (RFU) in a tournament of the champions from seven rugby sub unions comprising the Western RFU April 7-8 in Greeley, Colorado. The WRFU is one of seven national rugby unions and administers a vast area covering eleven Midwestern, southern, and western states.

Tech will compete as a Collegiate Division II representative and in representing a student population of around 1,800 the Pygmies will as usual be dwarfed by such DII competitors as University of Missouri - Columbia (28,00 students)and Texas State - San Marcos (27,000), and University of Northern Colorado (11,000).

A night of rain followed by calm and sunny weather provided ideal conditions for rugby. For the first time since the NMSU match on February 17, the Pygmies had the simultaneous services of veteran stalwarts Matt Majors, Tom Dotson, Britt Catron, Dylan Merrigan, Matt Kretz, Nick McCarthy, John Rundberg, and Tory Tadano.

New Mexico Tech kicked off and applied immediate defensive pressure, confining play to the Brujos’ end of the pitch. The Pygmies’ hustle paid off after seven minutes when their rivals were whistled for diving over the ball. Daly slotted the kick from in front of the goalposts for a 3-0 lead.

Four minutes later Tech stole the ball in a scrum and after several lateral passes along the line of backs freshman wing Josh Hill broke through for a 20-yard scoring run. Daly’s kick from a difficult angle was unsuccessful and Tech led 8-0.

First year Pygmy flanker Nick Falcone takes down a Brujo opponent. Photo by John Rundberg.

Tech’s strategy of playing the ball away from the Brujos’ strength in their large forwards paid off when Daly chipped a kick ahead for his fellow backs to chase. Center Royce Beaudry came up with the ball, Daly supported to take a return pass, and then fed scrumhalf Jay Herrera who scampered over the try line. Daly’s kick made it 15-0.

The visitors finally asserted themselves with a sustained attack of short runs by their eight forwards, maintaining possession through a score of tackles before releasing a pass to their waiting backs. Strongman Center Chad Thompson was held up temporarily in a tackle and then driven over Tech’s line by a host of teammates for the Brujos’ only score, 15-5.

The Brujos managed to stymie Tech for much of the game with their conservative approach, which denied the faster Pygmies the ball much of the time but also failed to produce scores of their own. Tech tackled well and occasionally stole the ball to produce dangerous situations, as when, seven minutes before halftime, freshman inside center Royce Beaudry shot through the middle for an opportunistic try. Daly’s boot made Tech’s halftime lead 22-5.

Much of the second half was taken up with the Brujos grinding ahead, the Pygmies sustaining their stiff defense, and occasional flashes of brilliance from the home team. Tech made several dangerous breaks, and went all the way with tries by Tory Tadano after 10 minutes, Beaudry's second at 36 minutes, and a spectacular steal and feed from Man of the Match Tom Dotson that allowed Daly to dot down two minutes from full time. In the negative column, the Pygmies had trouble keeping possession for extended periods of time against the cagey Brujos.

The University of Northern Colorado and the city of Greeley will go rugby mad the weekend of April 7-8 as the Western Rugby Union will stage championship tournaments in three college divisions: Women's (one division), Men's Division One, and Men's Division Two. Winners in each division will advance to the USA Rugby national championships April 21-22 in Sanford, Florida.

The NMT team will travel to Greeley by chartered bus on Friday, April 6 (Good Friday, an academic holiday) for a two night stay. They will play two matches Saturday and one Sunday. The Pygmies' first opponent is expected to be Missouri Rugby Union champions University of Missouri. Other clubs competing are: Texas State University (San Marcos, TX), Angelo State University (San Angelo, Texas), John Brown University (Siloam Springs, Arkansas), Wayne State College (Wayne, Nebraska), and host club University of Northern Colorado.

The University of New Mexico Lobos Rugby Club will also be competing in the WRFU tournament, in Division One. They are the defending WRFU champions.

The New Mexico Tech Rugby Club last advanced to the Western regional playoffs in Dallas in the spring of 2003. The Pygmies lost all three matches that year including a heartbreaker in their Sunday game against Northeast Oklahoma State University.

-NMT-