Rugby makes strong showing

As the rainclouds passed away and the 8:30 a.m. sunshine broke through the Long Beach sky last Saturday, the Pepperdine men’s rugby team took to the pitch in what would be their first match in a long and exhausting day of rugby.
The annual fall classic tournament hosted by the Cal State Long Beach Rugby Club consisted of 12 of Southern California’s top rugby clubs. Pepperdine, as defending champions of Division II, was bracketed among the top Division I teams.
In their first match of the day, the Waves jumped out of the gate fast and were able to upset Division I Univeristy of San Diego.
The score settled at 19-5 after two 15-minute halves. Two tries were scored by sophomore fly-half Takuto Suzuki, and junior hooker Justin Farber scored another. Suzuki kicked two successful conversions as well.
The second match, played at 11 a.m., would be the toughest challenge the Waves have faced all pre-season. Their opponents were the UCSB Gauchos, the Division I national finalists from the 2011 spring cup season.
The Waves were undersized in the pack, and the backline struggled to keep up with the speed of the Division I finalists. However, the Waves battled through the entire match and only lost by one try. The final score was 7-14.
A try was punched in early in the match by James Canole and was complimented with a long conversion by Suzuki. Seniors Dalton Egger and Freddy Banales led the pack and delivered some violent hits.
While this match will read as a loss, it served as a moral victory for the Waves. They had competed with the best in the nation at the highest level and managed to draw first blood on the scoreboard.
The third match of the day was played at 1:50 p.m. Exhausted from their early morning battles with Division I opponents, the Waves were not able to score against their division rivals and hosts, Cal State Long Beach.
Relying heavily on their backline and kicking attack, the Waves were able to put pressure on Long Beach, but were never able to reach the try zone.
The score settled at 0-7. The game was called early due to some questionable calls in favor of Long Beach, long with the sidelines growing frustration with unfair calls made by the referee. Frustrated, battered and bruised, the Waves gathered themselves as they prepared for their final match of the day.
The fourth and final match of the day was played at 3:30 p.m. This match was more or less a backyard scuffle with Division III national champion Occidental College.
The Waves were on their last wind of energy and rattled by multiple injuries from earlier matches, which hindered their ability to field a strong side against their final opponent of the day.
Again the Waves were unable to find the try zone and fell to Occidental, 0-12. Injuries to the club president Garret Kass, veteran hooker Justin Farber and threatening wing Jake McFadden exposed the Waves offense and disrupted their flow. This opened things up for Occidental and allowed them to put up unanswered points.