A-State Falls to Life in College Rugby
JONESBORO — Arkansas State’s rugby team closed out the fall schedule with a 34-10 loss to Life University, Saturday afternoon, in the Huckaby Cup game at Curt Huckaby Field. The Red Wolves close out the season with a record of 6-2.
“We had ball possessions for the first five minutes and put three points on the board,” said second-year head coach Shaun Potgieter after the match. “Life controlled possession for the next 35 minutes of the half and capitalized on some crucial calls by the match officials.”
The Red Wolves, coming off a 69-3 victory over Oklahoma the previous week, went into the match with Life with everyone healthy and ready to play. A-State struck first with a penalty kick by Dylan Boast to put A-State up, 3-0.
Life answered with a penalty kick of its own to even the score at 3-3. The Running Eagles recorded three quick tries that put Life up, 22-3, with six minutes left in the first half. A-State’s Tabo Maree answered with a try and a successful conversion narrowed the gap to 22-10 going in at the half.
Opening the second half, the score remained locked at 22-10 until Life scored the try with 13 minutes left in the game to increase its lead to 27-10. Another successful try with two minutes left sealed the victory for the Running Eagles with the 34-10 final tally.
“It didn’t help that we had two players sent to the sin bin for 10 minutes each, so we played with a man down for 20 minutes of the game,” added Potgieter. “So it’s back to the drawing board for the off-season.”
The spring season begins Jan. 21, when A-State hosts the Little Rock Men’s Club.
