This coming Saturday, 11/2/13, your UT Dallas Men travel to Longview to play LeTourneau University.  This will be LeTourneau's second year in the Lonestar Conference and while they have faired well against other clubs in the conference.  They haven't beaten the men in Green and Orange.  In fact the first match of last season saw a raw but talented team come into Richardson and play some fine Rugby, and when we traveled to Longview for their first home game of the spring, we entered a hornets nest.  Their fans were vocal, their play was up beat and in the end, they were the only club to hold us under 17 points.
   I expect to see pretty much the same thing as last year in Longview, but the difference will be experience which is what they now have and like us, they will want to show that they are ready, willing and able to take control of the match and want to give UT Dallas our league first loss in 2 1/2 seasons.
   But on the other hand, I don't think the lads are quite willing to give up this streak just yet.  The way we played Colorado College with a good number of 1st year players all doing what they need to do to compete on a higher level.  I think it will be a good game and we'll need as many fans to come out to Longview to equalize the home clubs fan base.
   Directions to LeTourneau University is now posted in the "directions to venue" section of this web site.

   The UT Dallas Women's Rugby Club has a well earned weekend off.  They will be preparing for their first road match of this young season.  Next weekend 11/9/13 they travel to Beaumont to play Lamar Women's Rugby Club

   Saturday, your UT Dallas rugby clubs took on visiting Colorado College and TCU and hosted UT Austin in a day full of good rugby.
   The first game put UT Austin Women against Colorado College Women in a very entertaining match, but it was UT Austin that proved to be the better side on this evening.  I apologize to UT Austin and Colorado Women for not paying attention to the score, but UT Austin did win the match.
    The next match put the UT Dallas Women vs TCU Women, TCU had transmitted to us earlier in the week that they would only be able to field a 7's team.  Meaning that the 16+ ladies that we have wanting to play at UT Dallas would have to be split again. 
The line up for this match #1:
1. Ariel, 2. Elyse, 3. Natch, 4. Alyssa, 5. Judit, 6. Emily, 7. Stephanie
Reserves: Melissa in for Ariel, Samantha in for Judit
    The game was played, but it was TCU that made the attack, and put points on the board early and often.  The UT Dallas ladies played hard, never gave up, but in the end it was all TCU.  The final score was TCU 27, UT Dallas 7.
    UT Dallas lone points were scored by Stephanie (Try) and Alyssa (Conversion)
   The TCU Women vs UT Dallas Women second game was played after the UT Dallas Men's match.  This match was a tale of 2 teams.  They came out with a purpose and while UT Dallas had to give TCU one player because they were short.  UT Dallas Women played much better in this game.
The line up for game 2:
1. Guadalupe, 2. Vic. 3. Laura, 4. Alyssa, 5. Lisa, 6.Samatha, 7. Marie
Cora played for TCU and played quite well, would have liked it if the teams we play all have enough players so that we don't have to give our players to every team coming in.
   In this game, it was all UT Dallas, they ran, tackled did everything that was needed to bring home the win.  The was an entertaining match to watch for those able to watch.  I on the other hand had weather to watch out for and sure enough, the second half was called off because of lightning within 10 miles of the field.  
   With the game being called, there was mixed reactions to this TCU was happy to get away with a split and earn a single bonus point for the tie. Colorado College on the other hand wasn't so happy, more on that later.
   Scoring for UT Dallas Ladies in the second game was: Trys - Lisa (1). Alyssa (1) and Alyssa converted her Try.  The final score of the shortened match - UT Dallas 12, TCU 0

   Originally scheduled was going to be UT Dallas Women vs Colorado College Women in our first full 15's rugby match.  This was to be a friendly match, to give all the girls an opportunity to get some playing time, not only for UT Dallas Women but also for Colorado College.  They had a number of ladies that hadn't had an opportunity to get in the first game of the day.  Their coach wasn't at all pleased with the call to end the games because of lightning, but it wasn't in my control.  And off Colorado College went into the night, while all the matches were good, hard, clean and entertaining, I doubt that we get another chance to host them again in the future.

   Now for the UT Dallas Men vs Colorado College Men match of the day.  Since we were hit with a number of players taken ill, we played the healthy players who showed up and this was a great opportunity for a lot of players that haven't gotten a lot of playing time, to get some serious time against this visiting college side.
The line up for this match:
1. Jonathan, 2. Connor, 3. Maika, 4. John, 5. Weston, 6. Matt, 7. Elliot, 8. AJ, 9. Andrew, 10. Reece, 11. Zach, 12. Alex, 13. Stephen, 14. Graham, 15. Joe.
Reserves: Dominic in for 10. Justin in for 14. Graham in for 15, Mohammad in for 7, Alejandro in for 11, Christian in for 6, Tommy in for 13, Daniel in for Tommy (played hooker, moved AJ to outside center)
   In this match Colorado College was a bit more fluid in their attack that we were and that is something that I as the coach take the blame for.  I thought we would be better prepared, but with so many of our starters out, the continuity we normally had was not present.  On a positive note, this did open the eyes of a lot of players, they now know the importance of running hard, bringing defensive pressure and all around catching and passing before the opposite defense gets on top of them.
   In all the match began not so good, but developed into a very good match to watch.  Trys scored by UT Dallas - Weston (scoring his first Try in 2 1/2 years), AJ (1), Dominic, (1). Alejandro (1) and Alex converting 2 of the 4 trys.  The final score UT Dallas 24, Colorado College 37.

  On Nov. 2 - our ladies have the weekend off, so no rugby for them.  But the UT Dallas Men travel to Longview to take on LeTourneau University in our 3 league match of the year.
   I expect LTU to be a better team than the team we met last year, currently they are 1 - 1, beating MSU and losing to SMU.  They gave us fits when we traveled to Longview last year and I fully expect them to bring us a game.  Directions to Longview wil 

   A few weeks ago, I was approached by the coach at Colorado College, they were inquiring if we (UT Dallas Rugby Club) would be interested in hosting and playing against them.
   This was an invitation that was too good of an opportunity to pass up,  Working with Chris McAlpine in the Rec Sports to assure that we'd have a pitch to play on, the personel to line the field, trainers, referees and all that goes into scheduling a rugby match on the UT Dallas campus.  We had a GO.
   Colorado College has a fairly good Women's team and they were looking for some high level women's rugby, an invitation was sent to UT Austin, in which they replied with a yes as well and will make their first trip to the pitch at UT Dallas.
   With all that being said, and the teams all knowing when and who they'll be playing.  Here is the breakdown and schedule for the games that will be played this coming Saturday.

3:00pm - UT Austin Women vs Colorado College Women
4:40pm - UT Dallas Women vs TCU Women (7's style format)
5:00pm - UT Dallas Men vs Colorado College Men
5:40pm - UT Dallas Women vs TCU Women (7's style format)
7:00pm - UT Dallas Women vs Colorado College Women (25 or 30 minute halves)

   The reason, you see UT Dallas Women vs TCU Women is that they do have a league match that has to be played out in the Lonestar Conference.  7's style format is two 7 minute halves with a one minute half time.  So the ladies will get more than enough rest between games and before the Colorado College match.
   This is a huge opportunity for us to show case our pitch, our university and our teams in front of UT Austin and against Colorado College.  For some of you who may remember reading about or saw the University of Denver match last spring, you'll know that outside of Texas we are at a slight disadvantage in size.  So this match would give us a preview of things to come, should we (and I expect us to) make it to the "Cowboy Cup" Qualifier next spring.
   This will also be a great event for our girls to play the game as we have been practicing for but not getting the chance to play, a full 15's game of rugby.  Colorado College's second side will be a good gage of where we've come from and may need to work on, but the idea of playing all the girls at the same time is exciting.
   As usual if anyone should have any questions or comments, regarding the upcoming weekend, please contact me and I'll do my best to answer those questions.
   See you Saturday.
    

   Saturday, your UT Dallas Rugby Club's took the field, the Men played Midwestern State University (MSU) at 2:00pm and the Women took on Sam Houston State at 4:00pm
   Since the guys took the field first, I'll start with them.  The match kicked off 18 minutes late due to the fact that MSU was short players and waiting to see what they had and needed.  In the end, UT Dallas gave MSU 4 players to begin the game with, Luke Lewis, Justin Thompson, Michael Shamoun and Joe Conover.  These 4 guys played very well for MSU against their own team mates (they didn't want to do this, but they accepted it and played).  MSU was very grateful for the fact that they were able to play.
The Lineup:
1. JonathanHolms, 2. Conner Heaton, 3. Maika Mauga, 4. John Bradshaw, 5. Weston Hearne, 6. AJ Paradowski, 7. Elliot Zieba, 8. Chris Logan, 9. Andrew Whiteis, 10. Brian Martinez, 11. Marc Hudac, 12. Dominic Prestia, 13. Nicky DiCarlo, 14. Graham Horrell, 15. Alejandro Chinchilla
Replacements - Arturo Sifuentes for 11, Ben Bales for 7, Jake Pesnell for 8, Reese Willoughby for 10, Ryan Lawton in for 1, Otto Wilkinson in for 2, Alex in for 13, Daniel Eljuri in for 5, Mohammad Nadeem in for 6, Matt Bolivar in for 9MSU's forward pack was very much a formidable opponent as they usually are and both packs played very well on the day, but it was the complete efforts of the UT Dallas Rugby Club in their play that was the difference.  UTD was able to mount an attack often and with a punch.  We used the entire field and did some really good things, but all while these good things were going happening, we still managed to pull off a few mental errors (something we'll continue to work on).
   Scoring came often, Trys were scored by the following players: Dominic (2), Elliot, Nicky, Alex, Marc, Daniel, Ben, Arturo all scored a Try each, Brian converted 3 of the Trys and Andrew converted 1.  The score at the end of the first half UT Dallas 31, MSU 5. 
   In the second half a number of replacements were made in the efforts of getting new players game time experience, since the game was basically in the books.  Those replacements played very well and it was a good thing for all players involved.  The final score of the match, UT Dallas 55, MSU 17.
   The second match of the day, pit the UT Dallas Women against the Sam Houston St. Women (SHSU).  This match kicked off on time and was since SHSU could not field a 15's side, it was agreed that we would play 10's and 25 minute halves.
    While SHSU plays in the Lonestar Conference, they are a relative new team but have been around off and on for the past 5 years of so.  It was that experience that was the difference in the women's game.
The Line up:
1. Melissa Gilbreath, 2. Elyse McCoy, 3. Guadalupe Villanueva, 4. Lisa Sturm, 5. Veronica (Natch) Rodriguez, 9. Alyssa Gelman, 10. Rachel Willauer, 11. Judit Guzman, 12. Stephanie Marek, 14. Marie Imperial
Replacements in the 2nd half: Victoria Wobser for Natch, Laura in for Elyse, Emily in for Stephanie
   The women played very well for their second 10's match and like it was stated earlier, it was SHSU's experience that led them to the victory.  These women didn't give up, they continued to play hard, they tried to score as often as they could, they continued to tackle SHSU players every chance they had or could.  But it wasn't going to be the fairy tale ending like the men had, your UT Dallas Women were beat by SHSU  79 to 17.
   Trys scored by UT Dallas Women: Alyssa, Stephanie and Marie all ran in one Try.  Alyssa was able to convert one of those Trys.

  Next weekend Colorado College is bringing their Men and Women to Texas to play a series of matches.  They will play Texas Tech (Men and Women on 10/25/13) then drive to Richardson to take on UT Dallas and a guest UT Austin in a series of matches.  This was originally set up for the men of both schools to get valuable experience against each other, but it grew into involving the women to get that same experience.
  This coming weekend (10/26/13) will be a full smorgasbord of Rugby, with the following schedule:
3:00pm - UT Austin Women vs Colorado College I
3:40pm - UT Dallas Women vs TCU Women (1)
5:00pm - UT Dallas Women vs TCU Women (2)
5:15pm - UT Dallas Men vs Colorado College Men
5:55pm - UT Dallas Women vs TCU Women (3 if needed)
7:00pm - UT Dallas Women vs Colorado College Women
   For the men, a match like this could be valuable if/when we advance on to the "Cowboy Cup", the women of UT Dallas should get their first opportunity to play a 15's match.  This weekend should be one of the best weekends to watch rugby in the Richardson area since last spring

   This coming weekend, October 19th both the guys and girls will be playing.  The guys will take on Midwestern State University (MSU) at 2:00pm and the girls will be playing Sam Houston State University at 4:00pm.
    MSU has always been a tough team to prepare for and play, they have quite the talent pool and especially their gifted Prop Simbaresh or Simba as we who know and call him.   Currently MSU has a 1 win and 1 loss record with a win over SMU and the loss coming from LeTourneau, I truly expect them to come out and play their usual style of game.  Forwards bang hard, ruck and maul hard, then give the ball to their speedy Wings.
    We must play a complete game this coming weekend and cannot allow MSU to be in it early, this is a dangerous team. 
    This coming weekend, we will be without a couple of players due to family obligations or school, we will continue to play those that want and are ready to play.  Last weekend, I was able to sub in 7 players into the match and I'm looking to do the same this weekend with 7 different players.
   The UT Dallas Women will be playing Sam Houston State after the men's game.  Not much is known about the Sam Houston Women except they are talented and have experience.  This could be what our girls need to see how far they have progressed.  I know they'll be able to put on the same kind of game they played against Rice University 2 weekends ago.  
    Sam Houston will be traveling with about 13 ladies, therefore we'll probably play 10's (meaning 10 players on each side, instead of the usual 7's or 15's as many of you are used to watching with the men).
    I'm looking forward to this opening weekend with both teams in action after each other, since we didn't get that opportunity 2 weeks ago.
    If anyone has any questions or comments, feel free to contact me and I'll do my best to answer them for you.

   Yesterday, your UT Dallas Rugby Club (men) took on the University of Dallas in Irving.  The day started in a quandary with the newly voted captain coming down with a bad case of the flu and was not able to suit up for the UD match.  Also the President and Vice President of the club wasn't at the game to help get the lads in order before kick off.  But no worries, with all the players there the new leaders took over, Cameron and AJ got the lads ready to play.
   The kick off went on schedule, but it was UD that took advantage of the situation.  They game out and threw things at us, and we responded like we had never seen anything like this before. UD slotted the first Try and conversion of the game in the first 3 minutes.  When they got the ball back from the restart, they attempted to do it all over again, except this time and every time after, the lads tightened their defense to keep UD out of the goal line.
The line up:
1. Jonathan, 2. Connor, 3. Maika, 4. Chris, 5. Weston, 6. AJ, 7. Elliot, 8. Jake, 9. Cameron, 10. Andrew, 11. Michael, 12. Luke, 13. Marc, 14. Alejandro, 15. Brian
Replacements: Tommy Tran in for 11. Mohammad Nadeem in for 2 both in for the second half. Stephen McMahon in for 13 and Matt Bolivar in for 5 both in with about 30 minutes left in the match.  Nate Pyle in for 3, Ryan Lawton in for 1, Daniel in for 8 with about 20 minutes left in the game.
   The match was fast and furious, both sides were testing each other, but it was our lads that finally got on the board 15 minutes into the match.  This also began a furious volley of Trys from the lads in Green, within the span of 25 minutes, they slotted 4 more Trys and 2 conversions.  This seemed to take the wind out of UD sails, but it was also the non efforts of the ref that decided a whole lot more.  That's all I'll say about the ref.  Back to the game.  The first half ended with UT Dallas up 29 to UD's 7.
    The second half began pretty much like the first, with the exception that UT Dallas was playing more inexperienced players to get them serious game experience.  UD threw everything they had at us and we responded with a bend but not break.  This half also had our second Red Card in 3 years, Nate was issued this card for protecting himself.  Again it was the referee and referee coach that missed everything and only saw the retaliation by Nate.  Words were spoken to both during and after the match, but it's done.  I'm proud of Nate for protecting himself when things got that way and wish the referee had managed the match better.  His eval will be sent with a GLOWING recommendation.
    Both UT Dallas and UD managed to put another Try on the board but it was a little a little to late for UD to mount any kind of attack to change the outcome. 
   The final score UT Dallas 34, UD 14.  Trys were scored by AJ (2), Cameron (3), Luke (1) and Brian converted 2 of the Trys.
   This coming weekend is a home game for both the lads and lasses.  The lads take on Midwestern State University at 2:00pm and the lasses play Sam Houston State at 4:00pm.
   Currently I don't have any kind of scouting reports on either team, but I do know both will be coming here to try and spoil both teams so far undefeated season

  This Saturday, 10/12/13, your UT Dallas Men's Rugby Club will take on cross town foes, the University of Dallas (UD).  The match will be played at the Bob Macnab Rugby Pitch on the University of Dallas campus.  Kick off will be at 2:00pm.  Directions to the game are now listed in
   UD will be a very good opponent for our first league match of the year, for it was 2 years ago UD took very good care of UT Dallas on the pitch, beating us some 63 to 5.  Although things may have changed in 2012 with UT Dallas winning both matches, I expect UD to come out lean and hard wanting to give out some of the same scoring that they had been hit with.
   This will be a very good test for us, being that we'll be missing some players due to injury, school or other is fine.  We have the talent and they are being prepped to be able to step up and fill any void that comes along.
   The weather may play with both teams on Saturday, but the beauty of this is that both sides have to deal with what mother nature throws at them.
   If anyone has any questions or comments, please feel free to send them

   On Saturday (10/5/13) the University of Texas at Dallas Women's Rugby Club played their first league match against Rice University.  It was an incredible event and a lot of ladies got some good game time.
   The weather for our first match was unseasonably cold, but everything was going our way.  Earlier in the week, the UT Dallas Women's Soccer team came through donating 2 sets of jerseys to the rugby club until we are able to purchase a rugby set of jerseys.
    Rice showed up with 6 ladies ready to play, UT Dallas had about 15 to begin with, so it was agreed by the coaches that UT Dallas would give Rice 4 players and we would play two 20 minute halves.  The players given to Rice for the first half would come back to us for the second and we'd give them 4 new players.
    The match kicked off on time, the four players given to Rice were Judit, Emily, Guadalupe and Melissa.  All of them played very well with Rice and they all showed that no matter what jersey they wear, they want to play the game.
The line up for the first half:
Props - Ariel and Gisselle, Hooker - Lisa, Second Row - Vic and Candria, Scrumhalf - Alyssa, Flyhalf - Rachael, Centers - Stephanie and Cora, Wing - Marie.
   The first half was an even match with both teams scoring 3 times, conversions were not made and the first half ended tied at 15 each.  One note about this half was that both clubs played with inexperienced players and this was an excellent opportunity for both to excel, grow and learn and that's what everyone did.
    The second half, UT Dallas players going to Rice were Candria, Natch (Veronica), Cora and Gisselle, and like their counter parts in the first half, they played well with Rice in the game.
   The second half line up:
Props - Melissa and Guadalupe, Hooker - Lauren, Second Row - Ariel and Lisa, Scrumhalf - Alyssa, Flyhalf Rachael, Centers Stephanie and Judit, Wing - Marie
   The second half was more UT Dallas than an even match, the UT Dallas ladies opened up a flurry of trys in this half.  It was a combination of open field running, good support, conditioning and non tackles, but there were about 7 trys scored in this half, the final score was UT Dallas 57 - Rice 15
    Trys scored by Alyssa (4 Trys, 2 or more Conversions), Marie (2 Trys), Stephanie, Ariel, Lisa (1 Try each), there were at least 3 more trys, I didn't get because of the flurry, but will update this as soon as I know.
   There were a few players that didn't get to play because of confusion on my part and I apologize for this and will not let this happen again, those players will get good playing time in our next match, Sarah, Karmen, Samantha and Emily.  While Emily got playing time with Rice, she didn't get any time with her own team and that won't happen again.

    The men's match against McMurray University was cancelled because they didn't have enough players to field a side against us, this match will either be rescheduled or a forfeit will be issued and that will be worked out shortly.  The men take on the University of Dallas this coming weekend in Irving, directions to the field will be posted shortly.  UD has been on the short side of scoring against UTD this past season, but I look to see a stronger side to face us especially on their home pitch.  They could be a dangerous side, but the lads of UT Dallas will be prepared to face anything they want to throw at us.