Individual Game Recaps UC Davis Takes Down UN Reno 12/4/2007 AGGIES OPEN REGULAR SEASON WITH A WIN Sunday December 2 The Aggies began their regular season league schedule with a 27-19 victory over a scrappy University of Nevada team in Reno. The Aggies were expected to win the game and it was surprising to see that twenty minutes into the game the score was still knotted at zero. This was due to a few Aggie miscues and tough play by a solid UNR side. UNR’s strategy was to kick the ball deep at nearly every opportunity, without running a play through the backs the entire game. The Aggies were finally able to take advantage of this style when wing Ryan Gamba, from Albany, made a good return deep into UNR territory. The Aggie backs rucked over well, allowing scrumhalf John Parshall to pick up a quick ball, attack the weak side of the breakdown, and give a short pass to center Jake Mayers, from Albany, who ran in for the try. The Aggies seemed to play more confidently after the score, and added to the scoreboard soon after when Prop Ben Reynolds inserted himself into the backline and passed to Mayers. Mayers beat a defender and passed the ball out to quick winger Tyler Harrison, who beat his man and ran down the pitch for the try. Portly scrumhalf John Parshall scored the third try of the game on a play that he has perfected. Taking the ball off the back of a ruck he kicked the ball into the try zone, beat the Reno defense to it, and touched it down himself. Going into halftime with a 19-0 lead was a good development for the Aggies, yet they had not played a complete half. Reno had not challenged the Aggie defense, but there were still handling errors and the Aggies were not strong enough in the breakdowns, which slowed the ball down and didn’t allow Davis to take advantage of their superior speed and skill in the backline. The second half did not go as well for the Aggies. They allowed Reno to end their clean sheet through simple mistakes and poor tackling on the goal line. Reno did not run any plays through their backs, but powered the ball through their forwards and gained large chunks of yardage through kicks that Davis mishandled. The Davis backs showed their ability to score beautiful, long tries once again when Mayers, attacked the edge of the Reno defense before passing the ball outside to Gamba who beat his man to the corner for the try. The Davis forwards finally got in on the scoring when they drove a maul a good ten meters before flanker Reid Robinson touched the ball down for the points. The Aggies could not close UNR out, however, and ended the game on a pathetic note. Reno scored two unanswered tries and appeared to have all of the spirit and momentum when the final whistle blew. The Aggies showed moments of scintillating rugby at times, but once again were plagued by mistakes and did not show enough toughness. The Aggies will have to play complete games to contend with the stronger teams in their league. Man of the Match goes to prop Colin Clark. His name would not be noticed in the scoring but he ran the ball powerfully throughout the game. He also repeatedly put Reno forwards on their backs when they tried to run with the ball. Davis 1-15 Ben Reynolds, Gus Brown, Collin Clark, Levi Ryan, Reid Robinson, Robert Meeson, Johnny Voltan, Mark Miller, John Parshall, Julien Howsepian, Tyler Harrison, Tom Warner, Jake Mayers, Danny Nolan, Ryan Gamba/Ross Warnloff TRIES: Mayers, Gamba, Harrison, Robinson, Parshall CONVERSIONS: Howsepian (2) Aggies B Side pulls out thriller The Aggie second side won an amazing game 31-30 in the final minute of the game. The most exciting rugby of the entire day came when the Aggies, down 30-24 with no time left, went down the entire length of the field. Scrumhalf Matt (Fish) Fisher started the drive when he took the ball himself and ran 20 meters, his second awesome run of the day. The ball found its way to center Milt Thompson, who ran nearly half the pitch before making a one handed pass while being tackled. The ball was perfectly thrown, and Andrew Meeson easily caught it with the benefit of his extendable arms. Full back Torston made the pressure conversion to win the game and make it a perfect day for the Aggies. UC Davis Men's Rugby Club 232 Activities and Recreation Center University of California, Davis 95616 Copyright 2006-2007, Julien Howsepian