Jacob Byrd will not be able to suit up against SMU this coming weekend and may miss the first round of playoffs due to his getting a Red Card in last Saturday's match with UTSA. The TRU Disciplinary Committee still needs to come out with their formal announcement of his 2 match suspension.
Also as the standings go, if we beat SMU we retain our # 1 seed in the TRU Collegiate DIII league, but if we were to lose to SMU we would then fall to the # 2 seed. We would still be hosting our first playoff match. So the senario is this:
We win, we retain # 1 seed, host Lamar in the first round of the playoffs.
We lose, we fall to # 2 seed, host UTSA in the first round of the playoffs.
This coming Saturday, your UT Dallas Comets will take the field against new rivals SMU. One reason this game means so much to me is. 11 years ago, I walked onto the UTD campus with the hopes of beginning my coaching as an assistant. After a few weeks of butting heads with the head coach about our differences in phylosophy, he mentioned that there was another club looking for a head coach, in which I gladly left to persue. A year later I took on the role as coach at SMU and promtly scheduled matches against UTD. Part of me was showing the UTD coach that I knew what I was talking about and the other was pride. I know this is a game for the players, but egos will always be a part of every sport. And while at SMU, we beat UTD by as much as 60 to 90 points in the 3 contests we played.
Now that I'm here, my intentions are to right the ship. That means coaching the lads in the proper ways of rugby and sportsmanship, because I'll continue to promote "Respect your Team, Respect your Opponent, Respect the Game". This is why this game is important to me and I will not vary from my thoughts. I respect the players, the coaches and mostly their Rec. Sports Director at SMU. I had a good run there and they will always have a special place, but now I coach a group of guys that want to learn and play the game of rugby. I'm having way too much fun coaching these guys and no matter what the results are after our match with SMU, I know that, I love, respect and honor these guys for everything they've given to me and to this game.
There is an outside chance that SMU will not be able to field a full team this Saturday, and if that happens. We'll still play the game, by giving them some of our players (in the spirit of rugby and sportsmanship), but we will play the match as a played forfeit. Meaning no matter what happens in the game, UT Dallas will have won the match 28 to 0. This is a Texas Rugby Union rule, that a club must field a minimum side of 12 players for a game. If a team cannot, then it's a played forfeit. A played forfeit is much better than a regular forfeit, because everyone still gets an opportunity to play, instead of showing up to the pitch only to find no opponent.
So regardless of what happens this Saturday, we will go out and play the best that we know how and show Respect to our team, our opponent and the game.