Central Washington Sets Sights High

December 22, 2004

Contact: Robert Ford (509-963-3514/fax 509-963-3515/e-mail: fordro@cwu.edu)

This article is provided courtesy of Alex Goff, "Goff on Rugby." For all your North American Rugby News visit: www.goffonrugby.com.

OLYMPIA, Wash. - During fall there's lots of talk among various rugby clubs about finding better opposition, and often that's from teams who are pretty darned good to begin with, and just do not want to win by 65 every weekend.

But recognition should also go out to the teams that lose tough games, because they, too, are trying to get better. Case in point should be Central Washington University, which capped off a three-week stretch in which they played four Top-20 teams, and lost to them all.

Following a November 6 game against No. 5 BYU and a loss to No. 16 Washington a week later, CWU packed up and made its way south to Northern California to take on the University of California, Davis, No. 14, and St. Mary's, No. 12, on successive days. Two losses later, everyone was all smiles.

"It went really well," said coach Bob Ford. "We were really pleased with how the guys played, how we were hosted...everything."

Following a rugged travel day, CWU came out against a Davis team carrying some injuries. The game was close all the way through, with Davis scoring in injury time to win it 32-29. While there was no grumbling from the CWU side, impartial observers said a series of debatable calls went against the visitors.

The next day it was St. Mary's, who had billeted the CWU players as well.

"The great thing about it was that it was two completely different styles of play," said Ford. "Davis has their grinding style with all those one-offs. Our forward pack did a really good job standing up to them. Then St. Mary's is a much more balanced team. They still have a strong pack but they really use their backs."

St. Mary's had to work for a 29-14 victory. CWU won the B-side game, one that highlighted the inexperience of St. Mary's squad (only one of their B-side forwards had played more than a single game).

"They are a good side and I think were a far better team than displayed on Friday [against Davis]," said St. Mary's head coach Tim O'Brien. "But look at their travel day, its huge, so it's understandable."

St. Mary's had some miscues in the connection between forwards and backs, something experience will help fix, O'Brien said.

"I am really proud of how they're playing," said O'Brien. "They're quiet, business-like, and I think we will surprise some guys."

For Ford, winning is nice, but seeing as the program was in such jeopardy last season, it is good just to get the players exposed to a higher level and to learn from that.

"It's about stepping up performance, and you need to get a look at the Top 20 teams to do that and to develop young talent," he said. "The BYU game really helped us with handling pressure and making defensive adjustments, and I think that showed this past weekend."

CWU was helped by the return of senior flyhalf Matt Howell, which allowed Mike Merrill to be shifted to fullback and solidify what is becoming an effective deep three.

"One of the things we have been working on is our first 20 minutes of rugby," said Ford. "Our other goal is to try to achieve high performance rugby standards."