Aggies Open Season With Woodlands Win
Press Release
September 22, 2007
Written By Josh Back
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Devin Musick makes a tackle in the victory over SHSU
The tournament opener saw A&M take on Rice. The Aggies felt confident after hard work in training over the past few weeks. The forwards were in especially good form and this showed after the first scrum when A&M destroyed Rice on their own put-in. With the very helpful guidance of Nate Mentzer and Hamish Roberts at the half positions, the Aggies began to amount an unsurpassable lead. One could see the desire and passion that the players had as they endeavoured to win each ruck and maul. In the end, the balance of power and skillful running was too much for the Rice team. At the final whistle, Texas A&M were easy 51-0 winners.
The second encounter was against the very physical side from Texas State. As always, the Bobcats weren’t shy of the tackle and fought courageously at the breakdown. In the scrum, their pack was particularly strong. After an early exchange of penalties, the game began to get into a rhythm. Again there was some great play from the backs as they tried to get that all important break through. Ironically, it was prop Steven Frazier who crossed to give the Aggies a small cushion. However, Texas State replied with a converted try of their own. It wasn’t until a brilliant solo effort from Alex Darnley that the Aggies began to pull away. As always, Texas State still had some fight left in them and scored at the death to leave Texas A&M 23-10 victors.
Next the Aggies faced Baylor. With the temperatures beginning to soar and fatigue setting in, the games became a little scrappy. Texas A&M gave away numerous penalties and Baylor punished them to go 3-0 up. Under the leadership of freshmen captain Kellen Burke, the Aggies began to put their game together. With converted tries from New and Way, the game seemed beyond the grasp of the Bears. The 14-3 scoreline proved to be the deciding margin.
The final pool match was against perennial foe Sam Houston State. This game saw arguably the two best teams at the tournament square off. The Bearkats took the lead with a penalty. This was a lead that they did not look to relinquish. There were mistakes by both sides as the game wore on and fatigue greatly hindered any attempt at flowing rugby. At this point it was all down to sheer guts and determination. To A&M’s credit, they were lacking in neither. With just 10 minutes remaining, the Aggies created a rolling maul and scored a pushover try which was well deserved. The spoils could have easily gone to front row players Tom Read or Chase Johnson, but ultimately lock Devin Music claimed his first try as an Aggie. This set up an intense finale. The game was put to bed in the dying moments as Hamish Roberts collected his own chip through to score stylishly under the posts for a 12-3 Texas A&M triumph.
Both Aggie sides topped their respective pools to set up an all Texas A&M final which was not played to the delight of the weary and battered players. All in all, the tournament was played at a high standard and the Aggies can be proud of their achievements. It was a good taste of hopefully what will continue to be a winning tradition at Texas A&M Rugby.