The University of Arizona men's team got back on the field and did it victoriously, 

The Wildcats took care of Grand Canyon 62-20, leading 55-3 after about 55 minutes and then seeing GCU score some late tries to close it up.

For Arizona, this was a meaningful game if only because they got to play. The University had brought the team's COVID management into the athletic department, thus having the school pay for thrice-weekly COVID tests and manage other rules connected to mitigating spread of the virus.

As an actual game day loomed, the anticipation was palpable.

"It was definitely very emotional," said Arizona Head Coach Sean Duffy. "To have the guys come back after so long away—a lot of our challenge was just managing the excitement."

Duffy didn't want players to use all their energy in the first 20 minutes of the game and be gassed thereafter.

At the same time, he was happy to see his players happy.

"We've been training in masks," he said. "Game day is the only day we've been able to do any rugby and see their faces, see their smiles. It was cool to see that."

Arizona showed well in many aspects of play, with their attacking structures looking quite snappy. the opening try by wing Ryan Thompson was amusing if only because of how fast the Arizona players ran to congratulate him for the first try in a year.

Meanwhile, Grand Canyon was physical and played hard but we're able to fully contain the Wildcats. At the same time, it wasn't a runaway.

"I didn’t want to play somebody who wouldn’t be competitive," said Duffy. "And they played really hard. We had the normal opening game issues such as penalties and handling errors, but even that got better as the game went on."

Captain and No. 8 Riley Kerr was excellent on the day and he combined well with freshman flanker EJ Freeman. The two connected nicely on a big, long try, and showed that the present and the future are in good hands.

Robert Figley was very good at flyhalf and, Duffy said, the game is slowing down for him.

"Having a senior flyhalf who knows our system, knows the athletes, knows what we’re expecting; it’s a luxury a lot of teams don’t have."

Next up for Arizona is Central Washington in Ellensburg, Wash. on March 27.