Friday opens up a big weekend for three major college teams, as St. Mary’s arrives in Utah to play the Utes on Friday and the BYU Cougars on Saturday.

For St. Mary’s the trip is one of those “be careful what you wish for” moments. Two terribly good rugby teams in two days, one the road. The Gaels are coming off a road win over Cal Poly where, for once, they didn’t score a metric boatload of points.

That’s not to say 48 isn’t a good number, but it’s not 75 or 80. Cal Poly held the Gaels down by controlling possession, and that’s often the way to go against a team that can score quickly from anywhere. But St. Mary’s exploded in the second half as they often do, showcasing their fitness, something that, along with their depth, they will need this weekend.

What St. Mary’s might have taken from that game was the value of patience. Conscious of wanting to take all their scoring opportunities against BYU, the Gaels were guilty of pushing it all a little too far at times. They turned the ball over when about to (maybe) score, and turned the ball over trying to score when the try wasn’t there to be taken. Both times, BYU turned the turnover into a try.

Against Cal Poly, the Gaels were patient enough to just defend and wait for their moment. When the moment came, it kept coming, the tries kept coming, and they won. Against Utah, another quick-strike team, and against BYU, they will also need to show a little more patience on the offensive side. That’s the test.

Utah already played St. Mary’s, and lost 81-15. Head Coach John Law said things will be different this time. 

“St. Mary’s are a very good team, and we’re working to get there, but in that game we had seven brand new players on the pitch, seeing the game for the first time at the collegiate level, or for the first time ever,” said Law. “We’re even up and down. We’ve had games where our game plan and our execution has been really good, such as against UCLA or Arizona. And we’ve had bad days. Cal was a bad day and most of it was my fault because I chose the wrong attack pattern.”

Utah also lot in a game/scrimmage against BYU earlier this season, one in which both could have opened the subs gate. BYU did, Utah didn’t. Either way, said Law, the Utah tackling and ball handling were both “very poor.”

Since then, Law has simplified the game plan, realizing that Utah is still rebuilding its program. 

“John’s pattern relies on phases to break down the defense,” added program director Mark Drown. “As a result, it doesn’t matter who scores - everyone has to do his job. We had team tries from ten different players against Arizona.”

Drown also said that something “clicked” in prop Spencer Vickery, who grabbed the pack and pulled all along with him. With his power and the hard work of a smallish pack, they overwhelmed Arizona. Will that be enough against St. Mary’s? It’s the right direction, at least.

And on Saturday, BYU will want to see positive points throughout the game. In the Cougars’ 32-28 win over St. Mary’s, most of their points came in two ten-minute stretches at the beginning of each half. Of course, the points count no matter when they are scored, but the Cougars like to control the game a bit more than that, and had to weather some torrid St. Mary’s periods, as well. 

The Cougars didn’t really do anything demonstrably wrong, except get in some penalty trouble. Instead they were just up against a really good team that didn’t back down. So BYU will want to double down on the physicality, stay onside, and, (echoes of above’s message to St. Mary’s) stay patient when they have the ball. It’s no shame to be clinical and to take a shot at goal when it’s available.

But you know also that emotion is all part of it.

“We’re ready to take on St. Mary’s for the second time this season,” said BYU captain and All-American Kyle Sumsion in BYU’s pre-game press release. “Saint Mary’s is the only team that beat us last season. We don’t want that to happen again.”

BYU won 58-10 this past weekend against Salt Lake Community College which was a nice home opener, but one that didn’t require the services of their 1st-team players. It was an enjoyable day for Cougar rugby, and also a chance for this weekend’s players to ponder with all due gravity the importance of the game this Saturday.

Notes: The University of Utah had to change their home field for last weekend’s Arizona game, and at the last minute shifted to Snow Canyon HS in St. George. Utah rugby leadership wanted to praise the University of Arizona, and their coach Sean Duffy, for being flexible and changing their travel plans in order to accommodate the change.