This weekend was supposed to be a huge weekend for both the Men and Women in 2 different venues all playing in their first league weekend.
     Only problem the women had to back out of their first tournament of the spring due to low numbers.  This was an unfortunate thing and I hope the ladies can bounce back in time of the next tournament in late February.  But a good note, there are some UT Dallas Women have been selected for the final practice for the first ever Lonestar Women's All Star Team.  As soon as I know those women, I will post it and they will be playing a motley side next weekend in San Antonio.  This final practice will select the final 24 girls that will be named LSWC All Stars.
     
     Now the guys, this weekend they traveled to Longview to take on rival Letourneau Univ. (LTU).  It was a beautiful day for rugby, the sun shining, the temp in the high 50's and a fast pitch.  For the first time in the 4 years that LTU has been competing, they have worked out to be able to play on their intramural field right next to their soccer field.  While this was their first game on this pitch, there were some markings that needed to be adjusted, but since both clubs have to use the same field, it equals out everything.
The Line up:
1. Ryan, 2. Nicky, 3. Brandon, 4. Connor, 5. Aly, 6. Caleb, 7. Clint, 8. Daniel, 9. Michael S., 10. Andrew W., 11. Coleman, 12. Chase, 13. Edmund, 14. Eric, 15. Zack
Reserves: 16. Seth, 17. Ola, 18. Andrew B, 20. John M. 21. Kevin, 22. Yahve
     The match kicked off on time and both sides sparred as the game unfolded, but it was UT Dallas to get on the board first.  Wing Eric Bellew ran down the right touch line to score the first Try of the spring and league season.  Edmund converted the Try to give UT Dallas a 7 - 0 lead.
     The restart came and put UTD in pressure, and instead of maintaining our composure, we turned over the ball to LTU.  But they were unable to do anything with it, but we helped them by giving them a penalty in which they took and made the score 7 - 3 in the early moments of the 1st half.  Both sides battled, it was a very entertaining match to watch and the half ended UTD 14 to LTU's 3 points.
     The second half started out as the first half ended, but in this half, both sides were on fire or on gut check alert.  LTU came out and slotted 2 converted Trys.  While UTD managed to score a converted Try of their own making the score UTD 21 to LTU's 17 with about 10 minutes remaining to play.  Here UTD held on, we ended up playing short (I believe) a yellow card might have been issued, but I don't or didn't see a signal from the referee.  Anyway, UTD was in gut check mode, either hang on and win the game or repeat last years game and give it to LTU in the closing minutes.  
     This match was in a new year and a new team and a different outcome.  With about 5 minutes remaining in the match, Scrumhalf Michael Shamoun picked up a turnover ball from a ruck and rumbled 55 yards to score the game saving Try.  This was a very good game played by both sides, but it was UTD's day and the final score UTD 26, LTU 17.
     Scoring on the day, Ryan Lawton scored his first Try of his UTD career and was named Man of the Match. Kevin scored a Try, Eric scored a Try and of course Michael scored his Try.  Edmund Miller was almost perfect hitting 3 of 4 conversions and that was huge for us on the day.

     Next weekend the Men are back in action, at home hosting St. Edward's University.  There is a lot of history behind St. Edward's and UTD and all of it isn't very pleasant for UTD.  But this is a new year and a new side, I hope that we'll be able to bring out the fire that we are known to bring in a match and make next weekend's match very competitive.  
      Before yesterday, there was a 4 way tie for 3rd place with a 2 win, 2 loss record, but if you looked further into this.  UTSA and St. Edward's both have a 2 and 2 record, but they have 10 points to be actually tied for third.  UTD and Rice have a 2 and 2 record, but we have 9 points to be tied for 4th place.  So this coming weekend should be a very entertaining match for everyone involved.
     The ladies have some time off before their next tournament, but like I mentioned earlier in this post, some of our girls have been selected to compete in an All Star Selection practice and game.
  

    On Saturday (1/21) your UT Dallas Men played host to the University of Dallas in a friendly match to knock off the rust from the winter break.
     It was a beautiful day for rugby, the temperature in the mid to high 60's, no wind and cloudy, gosh I love rugby days like that.  UT Dallas had approx. 28 players on the pitch by 1:00pm and a few more arrived shortly after that.  I spoke with the UD coaches and referee of the match and we all agreed on 4 quarters of 20 minutes will be the order for the day.
      With so many players present and each one of them competing for a position, it is difficult for me to list each player, so I'm going to hold off this week.  What I can say is that I saw some good things that makes the spring season a bit easier to work with. 
      The match kicked off on schedule, 2:00pm and was a very good game.  Both sides were moving the ball up and down the pitch with good ball movement and defense.  It was UD that scored first, with a Penalty kick late in the first quarter.  As far as the scoring goes, it was all UD that did the scoring, the final score was roughly UD 18, UT Dallas 0.
      Before the match, I told the guys I didn't care about the score, the score was not an issue, playing together was the key to our success and scoring Trys didn't mean success.  I think we are off to a good start, with roughly 30 players attending practice and games, I believe we have what it's going to take to get us back into the playoffs for the 2nd year in a row.

     Next weekend will be a busy weekend for both the Men and Women's Rugby at UT Dallas.  The Women will travel to College Station to play in the first 7's tournament hosted by Texas A&M Women's Rugby Club of the spring season.  The women will play in 4 of 5 scheduled tournaments all set at different weekends throughout the spring.  Those tournaments are listed on our schedule in this web site.  I will post the address to Texas A&M later this week.  
      Also next weekend the Men take the field against Letourneau University in Longview.  Letourneau has been in the league for a number of years, and while we did have the advantage the first few.  Letourneau has turned the tide by beating us on the field the past 2 years.  This match marks the beginning for both clubs the first league match for 2017.  I will post the address to Letourneau later this week.

      This is an exciting time for both the Men and Women as we prepare for the upcoming spring, but early last week USA Rugby announced their selection for the 2016-2017 Collegiate Academic All Americans Honor Roll. 
       To let everyone know, UT Dallas has had 2 Academic All Americans:
2011-2012 - Nathan Sohadaseni
2013-2014 - Lauren Featherstone
       But this year UT Dallas will have 3 Academic All Americans and they are:
With a cumulative GPA of 3.5
Melanie Bowler and Elaine Lai
With a cumulative GPA of 3.9
Wadih "Daniel" Eljuri
      Congratulations to Mel, Elaine and Daniel for your hard work in the classroom and on the field.
      

   It's been a few weeks into the new year and a lot has happened.  Last week both the men and women of the UT Dallas Rugby Club began practice for the spring campaign.
    This spring the LSWC will have conduct a series of 7's Tournaments (5 to be exact), they plan on competing in 4 of those 5 tournaments.  This is something new not only for our girls, but all the clubs that compete in the Lonestar Women's Conference.  This should be exciting weekends of rugby for all the ladies.  Their first tournament will be January 28th and will be played at Texas A&M in College Station, more info on that as we get closer.
    The Men began practice last week as well, and there was a decent turnout for all the players.  I heard they worked hard during their winter break and the first 2 practices of this season.
     On Saturday, January 21st, your UT Dallas Men's Rugby Club will take on the University of Dallas Rugby Club (UD) in a friendly match to shake off the dust from everyone's boots and prepare for the upcoming league matches.
     The UD match will kick off at 2:00pm at UT Dallas' rugby field.  This match marks the 6th consecutive year that we have had the opportunity to play UD either in a friendly or league match.  The past couple of seasons, UD has gotten the better of us on the pitch.  But this season, UD has been relegated to the developmental conference due to some situations involving players and coaches.  That's another long drawn out story that no one wants to hear.  Getting back to this match, this year could be the turning point in our season.  We have a number of quality, high caliber players that are beginning to come into their own and I think this could be the game, but this match will only be a precursor to the 3 league matches we have left to play.
     Currently, your UT Dallas Rugby Club is 2 wins and 2 losses and sits tied for 3rd place with UTSA, St. Edward's and Rice.  The next few weeks bring a lot of excitement to everyone involved in rugby with the UT Dallas Rugby Club.