The UT Dallas Rugby Club had 2 special guests attend the matches also. 2 of my former team-mates Darrell "Bump" Kee and Chris "Thump" Perkins traveled to Richardson to talk with the players, share stories and watch what they have been reading about for the past few years.
Before the ladies took the field, Darrell and Chris gave a pregame talk to the girls which was all good, then they took the field against Sam Houston State University (SHSU) Women.
The Line up:
1. Kaitlyn, 2. Natalie, 3. Vic, 4. Rubab, 5. Sarah, 8. Camille, 9. Elaine, 10. Kayla, 11. Kelly, 12. Brittany, 13. Cari, 14. Dimi
Reserves, Spencer and Kalena
The first half was a good game, with both clubs battling for space and territory. Both clubs moved up and down the field, attacking and defending like crazy. It was UT Dallas to score first, Cari found space outside the SHSU defense and darted into goal for the first try. She missed the conversion, and it didn't take long for SHSU to answer with a converted try of their own. The first half ended UT Dallas 5, SHSU 7.
As the second half began, a couple of replacements were made, Kalena and Spencer came off the bench to boost the UT Dallas attack and shore up the defense. It helped on the attack, Cari ran in 2 more trys and converted one of them, but those subs didn't help in the defense. As we made a few mental mistakes, which allowed SHSU to run in 3 trys of their own and they converted 2 of those.
The UT Dallas Women played probably the best game of the season and the score didn't reflect the actual game they played. I know I was extremely proud of them and how they played, but it was showed in the words coming from Darrell and Chris not only after the game, but well into the night and Sunday as well. They were truly impressed with the play of those girls and they plan on returning for another game in the future.
The final score UT Dallas 17, SHSU 26.
Because of some things beyond our control, Chris and Darrell weren't able to give a pregame talk to the guys, so they waited until after the game, at "Fuzzy's Taco Shop"
The guys hosted Stephen F. Austin (SFA) and in the past 3 meetings against them, we had been unable to get ahead of them and usually took a beating. But this night was special, I couldn't put my finger on it, but there was something different in the air.
The line up:
1. Ryan, 2. Nicky, 3. Caleb, 4. Connor, 5. Brandon, 6. Manny, 7. Will, 8. Daniel, 9. Chase, 10. Edmund, 11. Eric, 12. Seth, 13. Steven, 14. Clint, 15. Brian
Reserves Coleman, Talhah, Aly, John B, Otto, Maika, Spencer all reserves went in the game in the second half.
The first half kicked off at 6:07 and 4 minutes into the match Daniel ran through, around and over a few SFA players to score the first try of the day. With that move, which is the fastest UT Dallas has ever scored, gave UT Dallas the lead in which they would never give up. UT Dallas played pretty good, and there is still room to improve, but tonight was theirs to own. The end of the first half had UT Dallas up 22 to SFA's 7.
The second half was pretty much like the first half, both teams fought for territory and the ball. In a very entertaining match. SFA was able to put another converted try on the board, but it was UT Dallas that rolled in 6 more trys in that 40 minute span. The final score UT Dallas 60, SFA 14.
On this evening Daniel ran in a total of 5 trys, Steven scored 2 trys, Clint, Coleman and Maika all scored a try. To mark the return of Brian Martinez, he was 5 for 10 in conversions. And he wowed his team-mates on one of his conversions from the touch line.
It was a good showing by both the Men and Women to show off their talents on a crisp autumn evening in front of a great crowd. The upcoming weekend, both the men and women are off from league play, the men will be hosting and playing the UT Dallas Alumni in our yearly grudge match. This should be as good a game as it always has been since we've been able to have alumni.
The kick off for the Alumni game is set for 6:00pm, so come on out and watch a great game as the alumni plan to show the current team, that they have game.