On Friday, March 2 the Jesuit rugby team hosted St. Thomas of Houston in what would turn out to be a hard fought but sloppy showing by the Rangers. “The good news is” says Coach Austin Ryan, “you learn more from losses than you do from victories.
Both teams agreed to free-flowing subs throughout the course of the game rather than the traditional 8 subs allotted to each team. In the first half, Jesuit came out looking like a state championship ready team, as they controlled possession of the ball 70% of the time. Unfortunately, Jesuit came out of the first half with nothing to show for their dominance of possession.
What’s more, one of the leaders on the team, Andrew Donovan ’12, was knocked out of the game with an ankle injury – a loss that crippled the cohesion of the Ranger team. “We weren’t used to that lack of leadership presence,” says Ryan. “We need players who are just doing their job to step up and assume leadership roles moving forward.”
Ryan goes on to say that “We rely on a select few too much, both at the varsity and JV levels. There is just a lack of cohesion.”
St. Thomas took advantage of their opportunities, leaving the first half with a 22-0 lead. Jesuit lacked unity and discipline, but they fought hard.
Jesuit made subs to begin the second half in hopes of igniting a spark and making a comeback. St. Thomas took advantage of them, though, and scored in the first 5 minutes of the second half and never looked back. “We just didn’t play well. We need to improve if we want to bounce back from this loss” says Brandon Lock ’14. Again, Jesuit fought hard and won the possession battle yet another half, but still had nothing to show for it.
The players identified after the game that one of the underlying issues with the loss was a lack of fitness. “Rugby is a game that requires you to be fit,” says Ryan. “In training we will be focusing on a lot of fitness and intense physical contact sessions. Is St. Thomas a better rugby team than we are? Absolutely not. Were they more fit and prepared on that day? Yes.”
St. Thomas ended up with a 48-0 victory over the Rangers on the varsity level, while the JV lost 17-0. Jesuit felt the game was not out of reach going into the second half, but St. Thomas took advantage of their opportunities, and Jesuit had no answer.
Moving forward, Jesuit has taken this game positively and looked on it as a learning experience. They will have to overcome some adversity in losing key leaders to injury, and players who usually don’t assume leadership roles will have to put themselves into the limelight and step up so that this does not happen again.
This Saturday and Sunday Jesuit looks to avenge this loss, as they play in the Rugby Showdown.
