UCLA win over Long Beach St. boosts rugby team’s confidence
By Ashley Skipwith
Feb. 3, 2003 9:00 p.m.
After a rough beginning, the UCLA men’s rugby team’s
struggles have paid off ““ for now.
The squad defeated Long Beach State on Saturday 34-23,
continuing its two-year undefeated record at home and keeping it
eligible for the playoffs.
The much-needed win will give the team enough momentum to carry
them into next weekend’s game against a dominant San Diego
State team.
Key to UCLA’s win was an early try (essentially a
touchdown in rugby) by senior captain Joshua Veltman.
“Scoring first was huge to the win,” said Veltman.
“We had some big hits at the beginning.”
Despite an early lead, Long Beach came back, dominating the end
of the first half and the beginning of the second. Junior back
Allen Yamagata broke away from three Long Beach defenders for a
try, giving the Bruins back the momentum in the second half.
UCLA had control the rest of the second half. The Bruin win was
sealed by a try in the final minutes executed by senior back Thomas
“T” Pinney, followed by a two-point kick by senior
kicker Chris Golis.
Also crucial to the win were the line-outs ““ every time
the ball went out of bounds, the Bruins essentially retrieved the
ball again and playing the weak-side, which was very effective in
running the ball down into the Bruin scoring zone.
The level of play demonstrated in this game was a vast
improvement from the team’s first two games against UC San
Diego and UC Santa Barbara.
“We played pretty flat the first two games,” said
senior Matt Bilge, an important forward to the Bruin squad.
“This was the first game we played really well from the
kick-off.”
Despite the win, the team had some weaknesses. The Bruins had 11
penalties, resulting in many turnovers.
“We were 80 percent there,” said coach Jake Pike.
“We were weak on the control and penalty counts, but on the
toughness and preservation counts, we were good.”
With five more games in the season, four at home, the Bruins
look forward to competing at high levels throughout the rest of the
season.
“This is the best note to start off on,” said
Veltman. “We have a lot of momentum going into the next game.
It’s a big game, but we have the best chance of doing it next
weekend.”
Next Saturday the Bruins face San Diego State, which ranked No.
2 in the country last season and would have gone to the playoffs
had the league not discovered illegal players on the Aztec
squad.
Since the Bruins fare well at home games, as evident by their
two-year undefeated record at the North Athletic Field, many
players are confident of their performance. However, the coach has
some anxieties about the upcoming game despite Saturday’s
win.
“Physically, we are there,” said Pike.
“Mentally, we are playing a lot better, but if we have a lot
of penalties and turnovers, we will lose.”
