By Molly Atchison | Opinion Editor
The Baylor rugby club (7-1) added another win to their season in a non-conference friendly match against the University of Texas this Saturday.
Although they were missing five members of their starting lineup, the Bears started the match off strong with a fast-earned try and a penalty kick that landed the ball in UT’s hands. Baylor pulled ahead with a strong lead of 27-8 in the first half, led by senior eight-man and team captain Pete Hamm. The team’s consistency has been flawless over their past few matches, with their win over Texas Tech on Feb. 27 (42-15) and the four consecutive matches before that, which coach Mason Hering believes will put them at an advantage in the upcoming preliminary rounds for division finals.
“I think that going into the next games we have good cohesiveness. The effort that the team has put in is amazing,” Hering said.
The loss of senior fly-half Parker Vincent to an ear injury last week didn’t seem to trouble the Bears too much, with freshman Luke Davis stepping in as a substitute and helping lead the team to victory.
Their second half was much more rough, with several lost touches and UT pushing back on the Bears and scoring 17 points. The final score was 46-25 with Baylor grabbing the victory. The match wasn’t easily won however. While this match wasn’t an official conference match, both teams believe that it was beneficial.
Coach Ritchie Barnes of the UT rugby club worked as the substitute referee for the match, and he was a major proponent of this inter-conference match happening.
“We’ve got good relations between schools. We’ve both got bowl games next week, so we figured we could practice together,” Barnes said. “Baylor guys are great, responsible, and it was a good game to ref.”
Both teams have matches next week for the conference championship-Baylor playing against Louisiana State University and UT playing Oklahoma University.
“I think this was good practice for both teams. We were able to run drills and get tackled without anyone getting hurt. “ Hering said.
Baylor will play LSU on April 1 in Waco.
