Rugby club dominates University of North Florida

Alejandro Solana // Staff Writer

The Rugby team began its season on Saturday, Oct. 29, in Jacksonville as they defeated the University of North Florida Ospreys 49-5 in its season opener.

After winning the South Independent Rugby Conference championship last season, and getting a chance to play in the USA Rugby Division 1AA Nationals in April, FIU began its season on a high note with a 1-0 record.  

The game against the Ospreys was dominated by FIU from the beginning of the game. The Panthers scored their first Try of the game early on thanks to one of their newest members, freshman forward Thomas McGowen, driving in a maul off a line up throw.

“The line up throw was near the Tri zone we were able to capitalize, thanks to the rookie,” said second-year player, Peter Perez.

For those who may not know the rules of rugby, scoring off a maul is one of the more difficult plays in the sport. The team binds onto the player that grabs the ball and brought it down from the line up throw, and then the team drives him forward. At that point, the player with the ball hands the player in front, continuing driving forward until the try is scored.

The first try was what really sparked FIU’s momentum in the match, and it seemed to never stop. The Panthers lead the Ospreys 21-5 at halftime, and then were able to score 28 more points and shutout the opposition in the second half.

Head Coach Ronnie D. Suarez, tested out plenty of new players to get them straight into the action of playing a new sport and comfortable on the field for the rest of their season. The decision to do so clearly paid off as the team not only won its first game of the season by a decisive score of 44 points, but the two players of the match were both new players in their first game.

McGowen, who scored the first try of the game and had two in the match, was named forward of the match. His teammate, junior back Austin Alvano, who is also a rookie on this team and had seven tackles and completed 80% of his passes, was named man of the match as well.

“It was awesome to see the new guys playing well,” said Perez after the match. “Even though it was their first game, with all their hard work, they still became man of the match and were able to impact the game.”

The captain of the team, Mateo Velazquez, gave the players a speech at midfield after the game and reminded his teammates, new and old, that they are “a family” and can always rely on “your brother next to you.”

The FIU rugby club will continue its season as it travels to Tampa to take on the USF Bulls, Saturday, Nov. 13.

To join or learn more information about FIU’s rugby club, visit the club’s Facebook page or reach out to Velasquez at 305-790-3380.