Rocky Mountain Collegiate Rugby D2 First Place at Stake

The Western State Colorado University Men’s Rugby team hosted Montana State University in a battle of unbeaten teams in Gunnison, Colorado on October 15. The teams entered the match with 5-0 records and top the Rocky Mountain Collegiate Rugby Division 2 standings.The winner will be the regular season champion.

Both teams have had little difficulty scoring points while having strong defenses. Western State scored 209 points in five league matches and yielded 5. The Montana State Bobcats have scored 197 points and gave up 24.

Western State vs. Montana State Rugby Recap

The Western State match against Montana State was delayed an hour due to icy conditions. The 14th ranked Montana State Bobcats emerged with a 17-12 win over 5th ranked Western State, winning the regular season title.

Montana State slotted a penalty kick by captain Luke Ryan the 20th minute, as the Bobcats took a 3-0 lead and there was no additional scores before the break.

In the 44th minute, Montana State added a converted try by Luke Ryan to increase their lead to 10-0. Western State struck back in the 53rd minute as No. 8 Rodrick Waters took a pick from a 5 meters scrum for a try and after the conversion the Bobcats held a 10-7 lead.

Montana State added a converted try again by Ryan in the 61st minute, increasing their lead to 17-7 and added a penalty kick for a 20-12 lead

While the victory was secured by Montana State, Western State added a try in the 80th minute by wing Preston Adger for a final of 20-12.

The man of the match goes to Luke Ryan, captain Montana State, who accounted for all 20 points for the Bobcats.

With the win, Montana State maintained its unbeaten record an finished in first place n the Rocky Mountain Collegiate Rugby Divison 2 standings. Western State fell to 5-1 and finished in second place.

The playoffs will be held at Greeley, Colorado in two weeks with Montana State facing Colorado Mesa University and Western State playing Colorado school of Mines on Saturday. On Sunday the winners will meet to determine who advances to the USA Rugby National D2 playoffs.

The Rocky Mountain Collegiate Rugby D2 conference members includes, Montana State, Western State Colorado University, Colorado School of Mines, Colorado Mesa University, Colorado College, Northern Colorado and UC Colorado Springs.

Coach Comments

Western State Colorado University Men’s Rugby Coach Tony Gersick commented after the match that “Montana State came out as we expected. They played really hard and were committing forwards into the rucks. They ran hard and we were flat footed in defense.”

The Western State scrums were excellent and the team won most of the scrums in the first half. We came back in the second half and scored two tries and just ran out of time.”