BYU Rugby Memories: Drew and Teresa Allred

Our son TJ Allred joined the BYU Rugby Team in January 2007. He completed his mission in June of 2009 and is now with the team again. Our favorite moment in BYU Rugby history is simple. We were able to attend the round of 16 in Oakland in April 2007 and watch him play. It was an absolute thrill to see him dressed in Cougar blue, as my wife and I are BYU alumni.

Just prior to kickoff before the Wyoming game, I was nestled behind the trees (taking pictures) where the cougars were preparing to enter the field. Then to my surprise, I heard the young men sing the primary song "Nephi's Courage" and the words "We have been born of goodly parents"....touched me beyond description.

As I reflect upon this moment, tears come to eyes. That was exactly what our dear son needed. We were so impressed by the quality of young men. They treated him so well. I must say that it was Craig Clark who really took our son under his wing. We will ever be grateful to him and to the others.
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BYU vs. Arkansas State photos

Here are the latest photos from the BYU Rugby team's most recent and incredibly close test against Arkansas State, courtesy of Paul Meyers: BYU vs. Arkansas State


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BYU barely bests Arkansas State, 13-3!

After an obviously grueling test, the BYU Rugby team emerged victorious, beating a brutal Arkansas State side, 13-3! Although the score at the half had BYU down, 0-3, Our boys battled back in the second half to notch two penalty kicks and a try off of a blocked kick.

My camera crew informed me that BYU had a yellow card called on hooker Ra Lawrence early on in the match and later, another yellow called on 8-man and team captain Steve St. Pierre... To add to these woes, Lawrence was then issued a red card shortly after rejoining play. According to our cameraman, Ben Thompson, "BYU was basically playing with 14 guys the whole game."

More thoughts on the match forthcoming in a later post... but for now, congratulations to Our boys for pulling out a tough one! You had all of us fans petrified with anxiety... and rightly so!!!

Wow, what a close game! Amazing... truly amazing. BYU wins again... by a hair!

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BYU vs. Arkansas State - Halftime update!

This just in... the halftime score is BYU 0, Arkansas State 3!!! Talk about a game!!! Whatever's going on must be pretty intense, because you just don't see that kind of a score often at all!

Crazy, crazy, crazy! This is a nailbiter. Let's hope and pray, folks... Come on BYU!

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BYU downs Dartmouth, 26-5!

Well, folks... that's that. The BYU Rugby team just defeated Dartmouth, 26-5, in a match that was merely described as "pretty sloppy." Yeah, I'll say! Whatever Dartmouth was doing must have gotten in Our boys' heads, because BYU doesn't just roll over like that... putting up only 12 points in the first half. But of course, Dartmouth obviously couldn't get it done offensively either... not scoring at all in the second half.

It will be interesting to see what the match reports say about this whole mess. I'll provide any updates I can over the weekend... but for now, congratulations to Our boys on another victory over Dartmouth in the round of 16! Hopefully, tomorrow's match against Arkansas State will be much tighter, cleaner, and more streamlined... we don't need another scare like today's!

Hats off as well to Dartmouth for giving BYU a tougher run than any other college team yet this year! This year's score is much more revealing of the fact than last year's 48-22 difference... (Texas A & M also lost to BYU by 21 early in the season, but team captain Steve St. Pierre told me that they never once worried about losing that one) My respects to the Dartmouth players, coaches, and fans; you obviously run a solid program, worthy of recognition...

Now BYU is set to play a tough Arkansas State team (who just put up a convincing, 50-7 win over Navy) tomorrow in the round of 8... goodness knows I'm holding my breath!

Tighten it up, BYU! Let's see a more resounding victory tomorrow!
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BYU vs. Dartmouth - Halftime update!

Okay, I just got the news from my camera guys that the score at half time is BYU 12, Dartmouth 5! Ahhh! Sounds like a bigger barn-burner than last year's match! Let's hope and pray Our boys can turn things up big time in the second half!

Here's hoping and praying! Come on BYU!!!

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College Rugby Live Online... if it works...

I'm not sure if this USA Rugby Media Player will work or not, or whether they will even feature BYU's matches or not...

At best, the only other option is to check the USA Rugby website and see the "USA Rugby Live Scoreboard" (just scroll down on the main article page) which isn't really live at all but quite delayed in its updates. For example, right now it only shows that Arkansas State beat Navy, 50-7; no results yet provided for the Utah vs. LSU game (by now already finished) or for the BYU vs. Dartmouth game (that should now be well under way). Sad, sad...

At least my camera crew is there at the games, so they will let me know the scores at halftime and immediately after the game is over. I'll keep you posted... Go BYU!

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