Originally there was an effort to form a Big 12 Conference. While this certainly would have been marketable, it was not feasible for numerous reasons. Rugby teams are club sports and therefore do not have the financial support for travel that varsity sports do. Forming a Big 12 Conference would have meant a great deal of travel for clubs that simply cannot afford that. In addition, a Big 12 Conference would have left out all of the schools in the SWCRC except for Baylor. As such, Baylor broke off talks with the Big 12 schools to form the SWCRC. Will there be a move in the near future to expand the conference to include other teams such at Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Stephen F. Austin, and possibly New Mexico? We do not know, we will take things one season at a time. As it stands, the SWCRC believes that it has formed a quality conference; one that will provide each team with competitive matches that will benefit not only our individual programs, but also the sport as a whole in Texas. We are excited about the future of rugby in Texas and the USA and are concentrating on having a stable conference that will compete on the national level in Division I collegiate rugby.

Rice University continued their winning ways with a 36-5 victory on Sunday in the Mens Division Two Collegiate Championships.

Rice used their dominate forward play and near perfect work in the lineout to set the tone of the match and provide a stable running platform for their backs. Baylor fought hard the entire 80 minutes and were very competitive at the breakdowns but were unable to cross the try line until late in the second half.

Rice advances to the Western playoffs in Oklahoma.

Congratulations to both teams, coaches and fans.

-Courtesy of David McPhail

Enter off Rice Blvd using entrance # 18

Baylor vs. UD 1:00 PM
Rice vs. UNT 3:00 PM

In Division III play, Sul Ross will take on St. Edward’s with a 2:00pm kick off  while UH will host Midwestern State at 2:00 PM.

Good win.

Full match report to follow soon.

The first half saw strong play by the forwards.  Great communication, strong posting up, solid rucking, and a little aggression allowed the big boys to put in two scores in the first half.  Angelo State threatened late in the first half, but was only able to come up with a kick in for 3 points.  The score at the half Baylor 14 – Angelo State 3.

Coming out for the second half the boys were ready to go.  They continued their solid play, had some great tackles, and improved on their passing (slightly).  The only thing that hurt the Bears was their over aggressiveness on the scrums, and several times they were blown up for pushing too soon.  Nevertheless, solid play by both the pack and the backs resulted in three more scores.  As in the first half, Angelo State threatened a few times, but the solid defense of Baylor kept them to one kick and one try.  At the end of the day, Baylor prevailed 31-11.

One more win should be enough to insure that the Bears return to the State Playoffs.  This coming Saturday we host University of North Texas at 2pm.  Next Saturday we host Stephen F. Austin.  We need as many people out there as possible to cheer the boys on, it does make a difference.

During halftime, Coach Clayton Jewett gave the Bears a good tongue lashing for their horrible tackling, and it must have worked.  The second half started with amazing hits and tackles by Matt Reid, Jake Amescua, Brent Brookshire, and Andy Audet.  Baylor continued their excellent rucking and passing, and flyhalf Travis Bonning would put in another try.  A few minutes after, Justin Evans had a break away run for another try, Brent Brookshire was successful on the conversion.  This would bring the score to 29-0.  Toward the end of the match, a mental mistake allowed UD to pick up the ball and run in for try from 20 meters out, the guys were too busy talking to the ref and not paying attention to the match.  UD was successful on the conversion, and the final score was 29-7.  The important thing about this match is that the team came together better than in previous weeks, and is continuing to improve.

After the match, Baylor joined UD for a 3^rd half.  Things appeared to be going just fine in the beginning, except for one thing – only 4 UD players showed up to their own 3^rd half.  About 30 minutes into the festivities, the Bears broke out singing.

This was the last match of the semester and the Bears will continue play on January 22 against Sam Houston, in Waco.

Well contested match from beginning to end, with the game up for grabs until the end. Tied at 12 at the half, the difference was a penalty kick by Baylor early in the second half. Congratulations to both sides for keeping the emotions in check and playing in the spirit of the game in a tightly contested match.

On Dec. 4th Baylor travels to Dallas to take on the UD.