BYU Rugby 2010: Heads Held High

(Paul Meyers Photo)

The dust has quickly settled on yet another College Rugby National Tournament ... but why? Our defending 2009 National Champs BYU Cougars lost in a hard-fought match to the Cal Berkeley Machine, en route to a 25th National Title for the latter in only 31 years of tournament play.

You would think, my friends, that there would be another deluge of screaming, crying, and frustration from BYU fans (or at least from me!) over another tough loss to Cal in the final (our fourth in the last five years) ... And you would think that there would be an overabundance of cheering, lauding, and general embellishment coming from the Cal side in praise of their marvelous, undefeated season topped by an unheard of, 25th title ...

So you would think, folks ... but the reality is that no such response has emerged. Why?? Because, relatively speaking, nobody cares when Cal wins!!!

Of course, Cal fans and players were pleased with their win. But after a spot of post-game revelry, they rather quickly disappeared. After all, they had won again and so had little to talk about.

Ironically, BYU fans were extremely happy and proud of the BYU Rugby team's final performance in the face of defeat. BYU had fought hard and even performed above and beyond the mark of their entire season, so the loss didn't really feel that bad.

It seemed a matter of fears gone unrealized. After a season of unprecedented dominance, Cal was afraid to lose again in the final. And BYU, after a season of rebuilding and struggle, was afraid to win ... yes, you heard right: "win".

Only 24 hours earlier, Cal had carved up a physical opponent in Arkansas State, 83-37. Yet BYU, in similar fashion, discarded their Big Four opponent in Army by the score of 63-28. That's a nearly-identical points ratio of about 2.25:1 for both teams ... and while that might not sound like a big deal, perhaps some other numbers will better illustrate the point in question ...

In 2010 regular season play, the mighty Cal Bears outscored their opponents by an average of 15.34 points to 1 over the course of 22 games (1396-91 total points). The BYU Cougars' regular season consisted of 13 matches resulting in a ratio of only 3.58 points for every 1 point for their opponents (490-137 total points) ... not exactly the typical picture of BYU domination! (compare to last year's points ratio of 7.13:1, twice that of this year's team) But not exactly the usual level of Cal domination either ...

The annual "World Cup" of college rugby, a two-match tournament between Cal Berkeley and British Columbia, often presents Cal with its only real competition during the season. Historically, the tournament has often ended with both teams garnering a home win, with Cal taking the trophy on the cumulative points differential. The 2010 match-up, however, resulted in uncharacteristically comfortable wins for Cal at home (39-7) and away (41-10).

Additionally, Cal hadn't been held to less than 25 points in their entire season or even in the trip to the final against BYU. Moreover, Cal's dominance had seen 10 regular season shutouts and no opposing teams escaping the teens in all their scoring efforts. Cal hadn't lost many players from their 2009 lineup ... and the overwhelming W's showed the difference.

Either way the story is told, it's a given that Cal and rugby are a recipe for dominance ... but the 2010 season was that and more.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the mountains and desert, Our BYU Cougars faced the difficult task of rebuilding while defending their first National Title. The loss of seniors to graduation and freshmen to LDS missions left the team with some untested depth, now in line to start. And though such change in collegiate sport is typical, nevertheless the effects thereof were magnified by injuries to key starters before, during, and late in the season. The starting lineup never quite got set.

BYU was a different team than that of their undefeated 2009 squad, still struggling to find its identity ... and the results reflected the fact. After a controversial and extremely close loss to the Denver Barbarians, BYU squeaked by Utah for a lucky, 15-10 Wasatch Cup win and immediate #1 seed in the Round of 16. But only a few weeks later, BYU fell to Utah by two points in their first-ever Rio Tinto exhibition match. The score shouldn't have even been close ...

Nerves and tempers tested, BYU Rugby fans cringed at the prospect of not even returning to the national title game ... After all, Utah would most likely end up facing the Cougars in the Big Four. Only the last season game, a bout against then #3-ranked (on ARN) San Diego State, would provide any indication of BYU's playoff potential ...

Though the match proved to be no cakewalk, BYU walked away with a convincing 36-22 win. (Insert major sigh of relief here) Despicable line-outs and lackluster support play seemingly now in the past, Our Boys looked more primed for the national tournament than anyone had expected. Our Cougars then waltzed through the first two rounds of sixteen and eight with minimal resistance, beating Delaware (whom they had defeated early in the season) 33-13 and Arizona (who, honestly, worried BYU even less) 46-10. The real challenge facing Our Boys, upon reaching the Big Four, turned mysterious as Army, not Utah, stepped into the ring.

Coming off a double-overtime win over the Utes, the Black Knights of Army looked to be BYU's match ... for, if they were able to beat Utah, then it would surely follow that they could stand 'toe to toe' with the Cougars ... correct? Uhhh ... wrong!!! Critics' and observers' predictions on both ends fell completely short of foreseeing the degree of dominance with which BYU would eventually crush the cadets of West Point by 35 points. The difference then???

First of all, Army was not Utah. BYU's last meeting with Army happened five years previous in a quarterfinal match-up wherein the Cougars won a gritty struggle, 36-13 ... But that was five years ago. Translation: As far as the BYU Rugby team was concerned, Army was just another good team on the way to the title, just like Arkansas State or San Diego State last year ... no psychological baggage or strings attached, no rivalry, no extensive history to throw in BYU's face. Apologies to Army, but with all due respect, Utah is a whole different animal in BYU's eyes ... (how else would they ever beat us in anything! :D)

Last of all, Our Boys were just hitting their stride. With a solid lineup finally established, BYU still had room to grow as a team. Though they had passed through the semis relatively untested, they were then ready to come out 'guns blazing' ... and how much so, we BYU fans couldn't even imagine! When Our Cougars attacked through several phases to set up a center-Tupu-Folau try in the very first minute and a scrumhalf-Shaun-Davies try in the fifth minute, we knew we were in for a special treat!!

To Army's credit, they had a good ten- to fifteen-minute spurt in the first half where they pretty well controlled things and scored two tries. And in the second half, they did the same for a solid twenty minutes or so, putting up another two tries. And though they converted all four, yet their efforts still paled in comparison to the Cougars' nine converted tries (Thank you, Shaun Davies!).

And so the stage was set for another great final test between Cal and BYU: the former coming off a stellar season; the latter climaxing at just the right time! And while BYU was on the upswing, Cal had just experienced one of its tougher matches of the year in Arkansas State. Granted, Cal started a number of secondary players and still won by 46 points, but ASU put up a solid 37 points while star-kicker Keegan Engelbrecht wasn't perfect on the day, going 8 for 12 on conversions. For the first time all season long, BYU looked threatening and Cal looked relatively vulnerable ...

In not so many words, the final page turned in Cal's favor. Inadequate refereeing blurred the score into the realms of deception (there's a vast difference between making a decision and not even being there in time to see what happened). Honestly, the score could have been 19-12, 20-19, or even 25-22 in favor of either team, but the referee's score didn't accurately reflect the closeness of the match. Instead, both teams received the consequences of a guessing game, for better or for worse.

News outlets would give an impression of Cal dominating the entirety of the game in every facet, a typical display of Cal Rugby ... and such was simply not the case (for the disbeliever, hear it from Cal's head coach and players themselves). BYU never gave up; Cal never let up. BYU made mistakes; Cal made mistakes. Cal's first try of the night came off what looked to be a very forward pass; BYU's first try was discounted as "held up". Keegan Engelbrecht went 0/2 on conversions; Shaun Davies went 1/1. Engelbrecht went 2/2 on penalty kicks; Davies went 0/1. Cal scored a try at the beginning and at the end of the first half; BYU scored none. BYU scored a finally-allowed try toward the end of the second half; Cal scored none. The game wasn't exactly a tale of one team.

As BYU threatened to score again in the closing minutes, Engelbrecht attempted a drop-goal in the 77th minute. The ball just snuck over the cross bar, sealing the deal at 19-7 in favor of Cal. Even then BYU fought for a score in the remaining minutes, but a pair of BYU penalties and secure recycling by the Cal forwards ensured Cal possession until the clock ran out.

In some respects, it seemed a mirror opposite of the Cal-BYU final of last year. After the final whistle, Cal players stormed together in a flurry of emotion, some even collapsing to the ground in a mix of relief and disbelief. For several minutes afterward, Cal Head Coach Jack Clark seemed to be stuck in a stupor of shock at the realization that they had actually won the National Title back from BYU, going undefeated in the process.

For BYU fans, it was a bittersweet spectacle ... but only for a moment. BYU had lost again to Cal, true. But that was only on the surface, only on paper, only on the scoreboard. The reality of the game's intensity and the players' resolve on both sides said so much more ...

A BYU team that faced great adversity throughout the season ended on a very high note, and no BYU fan or player anywhere could deny the fact. For when was the last time Cal had been held to scoring less than twenty points in a game? When was the last time they had been kept try-less in the second half of any game? Had they ever experienced either of these deficiencies?? Ever at all??? Not even BYU's National Championship team of 2009 could lay claim to such achievements ...

And so Our Boys, Our 2010 BYU Men's Rugby team can stand erect, proud of their performance. We true BYU Rugby fans were there ... we saw and we know ... without shame, animosity, or regret. Instead, excitement, energy, and respect for both teams reigned in what proved an eventful test. We can all walk tall, all of us in the BYU Rugby community, with heads held high for this year, for the realization of expectations exceeded ... and especially for the prospects of tomorrow.

Congratulations to Our BYU Rugby Boys and the entire BYU Rugby Staff on another great and exciting season! (as long as #2 in the nation is it bad as it gets, we can all survive until next season, right?)

Keep on rolling, Cougars!! Next year, it's our turn!!!
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If We Don’t Play on Sunday

By Jared McInelly (guest columnist), tight head prop, ’99.

“If we don’t play on Sunday, no one will.” – T-shirts worn by BYU Rugby team, 1999.

It was 1999 and the world was concerned with a global apocalypse caused by the Y2K problem. We, on the other hand, were concerned with one thing, beating Arizona.

It was the first time BYU rugby had gone to the Collegiate National Championship playoffs in almost 25 years. For a long time we’d petitioned the league to change tournament play so that no games were held on Sunday. For a long time they’d rejected our request. This year, however, something different was happening.

It began two years before when we started really winning games. 105-8, 65-0. BYU rugby was used to winning but these scores were big, and the team showed a level of consistency and advanced play that Coach Dave Smyth hadn’t seen before. We had chemistry and we loved to play the game. 1999 was the last year that a large group of us would be able to play rugby for BYU. So a couple of us approached Coach Smyth and asked him if we could take a run at the national championship. The thinking was that if we made a good run and got to a Sunday game, perhaps the league would change it to accommodate the cougars. We at least wanted to go for it instead of forfeiting our spot to the hated University of Utah (who, despite having a largely LDS team, didn’t mind playing games on Sunday). Coach Smyth was easily convinced. He had coached most of us for 4 years and saw the potential we had and wanted to test us against the best teams in the nation. We entered the tournament.

Since we had beaten everyone in our league, we were immediately seeded to play outside of Utah. We easily beat Central Washington, 58-6 and St. Mary’s, 42-10. I’ll never forget Dave Wheeler’s solo kickoff return for a try against St. Mary’s. Or Sean Brown’s devastating tackle against the huge, hard hitting Central team. Or Lincoln Nadauld and Eric Oh cutting and slicing through opponents like they were standing still. These wins put us into the sweet 16 tournament held at the Air Force Academy in Boulder, Colorado to play the University of Arizona, a team we’d barely beaten in Tucson earlier in the year.

We took the bus to Boulder.

When we arrived at the Air Force field we were greeted by 2 inches of new snow that was beginning to melt. By the time kickoff came around the field had turned into 6 inches of sloppy mud. It became one of the hardest games we’d ever played, everything in slow motion, with sticky sloppy mud grabbing at our cleats with every step. The scoring was minimal. By the end of regulation it was tied at 7. That put us into overtime. I remember thinking, “Man, I don’t know if I can play another minute.” But we pulled it together and kept battling despite our aching bodies and lactic acid filled legs. End of overtime, no one had scored. Second overtime ended, still no score. In the third overtime the ref told us that it was now sudden death. We’d go until someone scored. We’d now played over 100 minutes of serious rugby in the mud and we’d have to keep going.

It’s times like these where men are really tested. It’s why we play sports; to put us in situations where we are required to go beyond ourselves. Beyond what we think is possible. We had come a long ways, sweating and bleeding, running sprints around the old Smith Field House indoor track, pushing the rusty old scrum sled all over half of Provo until our legs and backs ached only to have Smyth yell, “Again.” We’d beaten Utah and everyone else who had come up against us. It seemed impossible but we dug deep and found the courage to keep fighting.

Two minutes into the third overtime Arizona put the ball into a scrum. Their wily scrum half pulled it out and rocketed the ball to the inside center. The pass followed a nice arc but he’d miscalculated the path of his intended target and the ball sailed behind the receiver, dropping to the ground with a thud. Jeff Bradshaw, our scrum half was on the ball instantly. But instead of taking the time to stoop and pick it up, he kicked the ball down field. It skidded across the mud stopping about 10 m short of our try line. The race was on. Jeff and two Arizona players converged on the ball. At the last second Jeff dove for the ball and the two Arizona players landed on top of him. The momentum of the three carried them, like kids on a slip-in-slide, through the mud and muck and into our try zone. The ref threw his hand in the air and blew the whistle. A try! The game was over; BYU beat Arizona in triple overtime, in the mud, to advance to the final 4.

The field and sidelines erupted. The screaming, hollering and spontaneous jumping and high-fiving were finished off by the whole team running down the field and sliding on our bellies through the mud. The league refused to change the game from a Sunday, so we were forced to forfeit. But we had gone as far as we could. We’d beaten everyone that came against us. And to us, it was a national championship.

It took several more years of protests and an eventual lawsuit to convince the Collegiate Rugby league to change the tournament to a Friday-Saturday schedule. They finally agreed to make the change if BYU made it to the playoffs. We’ve gone every year since then and, as many of you know, finally won our first true National Championship exactly 10 years from that magical season. In talking to those who watched and coached the team that won the national championship in 2009, it sounded like there were many similarities between the style of play, work ethic and team chemistry of that team and those of us who played in 1999. Having played for the 1999 team, it was good to see things come full circle. I felt like we finally earned what my teammates and I had fought for on that muddy field in Colorado so many years ago. I know that all of us that have ever played rugby for BYU felt pure joy in the victory.

I heard later that the University of Arizona was so upset by losing to us in the playoffs and our subsequent forfeiture that they refused to ever play BYU in rugby again.


Jared McInelly currently resides in Seattle, Washington with his wife Camille and 4 beautiful kids. While his rugby days are over, he still enjoys watching the highlight video from the glory days (currently on YouTube, including the last play of the Arizona game where Jeff scores the winning try in overtime). Jared is currently working on a book chronicling his journey from football dropout to starting tight head prop for the Cougar rugby team as they took their first run at the national tournament in 25 years. He also works for National Instruments as a Technical Sales Engineer.


Editor's note: If you played for the ’99 team, Jared would like to get in touch with you as part of his research for the book. Please contact him at jaredmcinelly@hotmail.com.

Click the following links to view highlights of the legendary '99 BYU Rugby team: BYU Rugby Highlights '99 Part 1
BYU Rugby Highlights '99 Part 2
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BYU vs. Cal: "The Miracle" photos

My beloved BYU Rugby fans... if you have never taken a moment to check out the BYU Rugby photo archives this season, I encourage you to do so now. Paul Meyers has captured Our boys' finest moments as they snatched the National Title throne right out from under Cal, a moment that many of us will never forget! Please take a few minutes to enjoy the plethora of photos by clicking the following link:

National Championship, Final Match: BYU vs. Cal Berkeley


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BYU Rugby: National Champs in the News

More so than ever before, the BYU Rugby team has turned some heads locally and nationally with their National Championship win this past weekend!

Click the following links to see interviews and coverage highlighting the Cougars' epic win (both featuring video footage by our highlight video camera crew):

"BYU Rugby Wins National Championship in Huge Upset" on 2News-KUTV (click on the "Sports" tab)

"BYU Rugby wins national championship" on KSL 5 TV

Oh, and one last little morsel of goodness from California where, at least as they know it, it's the "end of the world":

"It's the End of The World-Until Next Year" from The Daily Californian

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The Scoop... Preseason 2008

Recently, I talked with a few BYU rugby players on campus and gleaned some tidbits about the upcoming season.

I am always anxious to know when the Cougars have their preseason bouts as sometimes the craziest rugby games happen during the Fall semester. This year, however, the BYU rugby team is going to take a break... at least from public tests. Instead, they will be focusing the whole semester on improving their strength and conditioning with some special help from the BYU football trainers.

Additionally, a couple returning starters, team captain and forward Steve St. Pierre and back Vito Qaqa, have recently undergone surgeries and will need some time to rehabilitate. So, as much as I would like to see some rugby this semester, looks like we'll all have to wait until springtime.

In talking to Steve, I also learned that the team apparently has no returning second row... no locks at all! He even invited me to come and fill the position. As fun as that would be, I have already had enough repairs to my teeth and shoulders to render me an unreliable prospect. I mentioned the lack of locks to Rob Burton, and he said that he might try to fill the spot. Rob isn't quite 6 feet tall, and I personally think he should just stick to his knitting at the flanker position instead.

I thought about last year's locks and where they went... Jacob Sohn graduated and got recruited by Belmont Shore (Super League team); Brett Clark went on a mission to Washington; Mark Anderson graduated (or is ineligible?); and Mike Ratelle won't play this year for some reason (which I don't understand). So, is there anyone left? Anyone at all???

I was in the computer lab for one of my construction management classes the other day when I overheard a guy talking about rugby and being on the team. After I got to a good stopping point in my assignment, I went over to talk to him. His name is Ryan, and he tried out for the team this year. While a missionary in New Zealand, he often saw rugby matches on weekends and occasionally participated in a few games of touch. He stood up to greet me, and I was happy to see that he is quite tall, 6'5" I later learned. Not only is he tall, but he seems to have a lot of potential, having played football in high school and having recently gotten back into conditioning and benching over 300 pounds. Let's just say I felt quite comfortable in telling him that he would be a lock for BYU... pretty much guaranteed!

And so goes the preseason, my friends...

Perhaps this year presents a good opportunity for the rebuilding of the BYU Men's Rugby team. Not only did the team lose locks, but several key players as well, such as prop Derek Smith, hooker Duran Ngakuru, and center Grant Barnes, to name a few.

In recent years, BYU has seemed to struggle in the formation of a cohesive back line, and I wonder just how deep our roster will be in terms of experienced backs. I also wonder how quickly our new forwards will be integrated into the pack, BYU's signature area of dominance.

While I am indeed concerned about the formulation of a newer team, I must also recall the lessons learned from past experiences to let optimism ride out the tide on this one. Last year, I experienced all the same sentiments: BYU had similarly lost several key players and had to look to various newcomers to step up to the task. Did they succeed? Of course. Did they return to the National Championship stage? Yes. Was it easier than the previous year? No... but they got there nonetheless, surpassing my initial expectations to be sure.

And so, in summation of my outlook for this coming year, I answer the question, "Will BYU be very successful this year?" with a somewhat proud reply, "Why would they not be???"

BYU Rugby, KIA KAHA!
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