A Must-Win Game for the Hoggies
The UD Rugby Team, nicknamed the “Hoggies,” is facing the Texas A&M Aggies in their last regular season game at home on March 7 in a “must-win” game for a chance at a playoff run. The game was originally scheduled for Feb. 14, but was canceled due to inclement weather. According to team captain Charlie Laurent, March 7 is the best date because of a Sevens tournament on Feb. 28 that A&M is attending. Going into this last game, the Hoggies are 1-0-1 just coming off a tie with UT, while the Aggies are 2-0. The Hoggies must win in order to advance to the playoffs, where they will likely face the Aggies, who have already clinched a spot.
Going into the match, the players are excited and eager to win and represent UD at a high level against a much bigger and better-known university. Inside center Jonah Aycock is confident and ready. Aycock said, “I think it will be an amazing game, and I’m excited to beat them.” Fly-half Felix Prieto articulated his thoughts against playing a bigger team, and how the Hoggies will need to use their game-knowledge to win: “I think that A&M are probably going to be big guys, they’re definitely going to be physically…maybe superior. But I think that if we play our smart game, I think we’re a better rugby team than them. I think if we play our game that our coaches have been teaching us that we know how to play, I think we can outskill them and outsmart them; that should bring us to victory.” The Hoggies are familiar with being the physically smaller team on the pitch, and have always relied on playing a quick and highly skilled game to beat their big opponents. They regularly face and beat schools like Baylor, UNT and UT, who have massive pools of physical talent to choose from; A&M’s undergraduate enrollment is 62,543.
In their last few games, the Hoggie’s offensive strategy has been keeping the ball in hand and passing it outside and around on the wings as quickly as possible, instead of running the ball up the center and relying on a physical dogfight towards the middle of the field. However, the team has experienced struggles with their ball-handling skills over the past two games. “I think we need to work on our hands, those were pretty rough in our last game.” said Aycock. “We need to do some drills on that for sure.” While playing against UT, the Hoggies had possession for most of the game, only to frequently turn it over with drops or bad offloads. In their upcoming A&M match, the Hoggies need to play to their advantage in speed and agility, especially against a team that will be physically larger and tougher. Cleaning up the ball-handling skills will be essential for victory then and in advancing to the playoffs.
As for their overall attitude, the Hoggies are eager for the chance to represent UD at a high level. They are aware that they carry the legacy of their fellow students, the University name and the legacy of the alumni. Knowing their own talent and past successes, the team wants to win for their fellow students and show how a small, Catholic school like UD can face the giants of the college world in one of the most thrilling and grueling physical sports in the world. “I am very excited to represent the University,” said Jonah, voicing the sentiment of his teammates. “I love UD and I love playing rugby for them.”