DIA Rugby News
If you’re one who enjoys seeing interesting facial expressions on people, tell St. Mary’s players and coaches that Davenport has the best scrum in the country, and watch them wage internal battles to not reply.
One thing you have to give Davenport University - they don’t back down from a challenge.
The Panthers have embraced tough competition since they began playing as a quasi-varsity program.
After two DIAA championships, they moved up to DIA, playing in the toughest conference in the nation in the Mid-South. How tough? They didn’t win a conference game until this April.
Lindenwood University seems to be playing as if the players have chips on their shoulders.
After playing in a tough league that saw them score 63 points in four games, the Lions have unleashed their offensive capability in impressive fashion, scoring 69 on Colorado State and 59 on Air Force.
It’s not like things had been going badly.
St. Mary’s had been playing quite well - yes they’d lost to BYU twice and Cal, but those games had all been close, and the Gaels seemed to be set for another run at the DIA final.
The DIA quarterfinals proved to be a startling display of the difference between the top four and the next four.
In addition, the results supported the conventional wisdom in both the Goff Rugby Report DI rankings and the D1A poll, which said that the Mid-South Conference is the best in the nation.