Cougars Edged By Barbos

February 27, 2010

Provo, UT–In a match that lived up to it’s billing the BYU Cougars were edged out by the Rugby Super League’s Denver Barbarians by the score of 21-18 today in Grand Junction, CO.

The Barbos, who were playing their first game of their 2010 season, came into the match with pistons firing and playing wide open attack under the tutelage of new head coach Steve Hazel.

The pace of play led to 21 points for the Barbos in the first 25 minutes, but once the Cougars settled into their senses they mounted an 18 point comeback that fell short with a slew of BYU missed-opportunities and a much-maligned try that was denied by the match referee late in the second half.

Despite the loss, BYU assistant coach Kimball Kjar said the game was exactly what they needed in order to improve.

“This was a great game for our guys,” said Kjar, “We were put under a lot of pressure by a good team and after our guys got their whits about them they were able play very well. Unfortunately, the score doesn’t reflect that, so we’ll learn and move on.”

The opening quarter of the match saw BYU pressure deep into the Denver territory via a long clearing kick from center Viliami Vimahi and Denver turnover. But a similar turn over from the Cougars and a missed series of tackles gave Barbarian flyhalf Maximo De Acheval the platform for wide kick that was regathered for the opening try of the game.

The Cougars wouldn’t fluster early however and built a series of phases that led to a Denver penalty and scrum half Shaun Davies’ subsequent shot at goal that was good. In the opening 10 minutes the score was in the favor of Denver 7 to 3.

But a continued series of defensive pressure from the Barbarians at the break down led to two BYU turn overs that would give the men’s club two tries in the next 15 minutes of the match. After giving up the bevy of tries the Cougars were able to settle into their defense and hold the Barbarians out of the end zone for the rest of the match.

In fact, the defensive effort of the Cougars was the emphasis for the team said BYU hooker Ismael Tilialo.

“Our defense was improved today,” he said, “We knew we had to do well defensively if we wanted to stay in the game. Unfortunately we didn’t make the stops we needed to early enough, but I think we had them figured out by the end of the game.”

Given the heavy emphasis on defense the game was a very physical affair that led to numerous turn overs and missed opportunities by both teams. But it was the 38 turnovers to Denver’s 25 that proved the ruin of the Cougars as they tried to mount their come back.

As BYU worked to stem the tide of the Denver attack it wasn’t until the final moments of the 1st half that the Cougars scored their first try on the back of flanker Hynie Leaaetoa as he picked up from the base of BYU 5 meter scrum and bullied his way into the endzone.

A conversion from Davies edged the Cougars closer at halftime 21 t0 10.

More pressure and territory ownership from BYU led to a  number of missed chances that would have given the Cougars a chance for the lead heading in to the final stanza of the match.

A heel tap tackle from a covering Denver defender on a breaking BYU flyhalf Dylan Lubbe saved a sure try and another knock-on yards from the tryline by Lubbe also left the Cougars begging for more chances to dot down.

But it was finally prop Mikey Su’a who forced his way down for the score from a mauling lineout move by the Cougars in the 48th minute. A missed conversion followed by a well slotted penalty goal from Davies pulled the Cougars within 3 and the momentum was well within the favor of BYU.

But more turnovers and more missed opportunities to finish their line breaks plagued the Cougars. Two tries went begging however within the deluge of BYU pressure.

One of the tries was a slippery run from Davies that saw him dot the ball down for the try, only to have it denied by the referee in the waning moments of the game. The other was a well-worked set of hands only to see fullback Andrew Harrison called out of bounds as he dotted the ball down near the touch line.

Both lost opportunities didn’t keep the Cougars from continuing their interest to close out with a win however. In fact two chip kicks and a wide kick from the Cougar backline were unlucky not to bounce into the waiting hands of a Cougar near the goal line.

With the lost opportunities the Cougars conceded a well fought game to their Denver rivals.

“[Denver's] a great team,” said assistant coach Wayne Tarawhiti, “They’re very physical and very good at playing a wide open game. If there was a loss that was good for you, this was it. We’ll take a lot of lessons from this game.”

BYU head coach David Smyth was pleased with his team’s performance despite the narrow and tough loss.

“Denver came out of the blocks well,” he said, “They worked through the phases very efficiently and outplayed us at the breakdown and punished our mistakes. We were a little slow to adjust in the first half, but I felt we
turned the tables on them in the second half. We did very well and dominated territory and possession and I felt we did enough to win the game. I was pleased with the effort, we learned some valuable lessons and we’ll be better for it.”

With the first BYU loss since 2008 the Cougars will now look to recover and turn their focus to what is easily the biggest game of the regular season: The Wasatch Cup. BYU has owned the Wasatch Cup against their rival Utah with the cup traveling north only one time in the last six years.

BYU ran away from the Utes on their home turf in 2009 on their way to a 59-15 win and their fourth straight Wasatch Cup victory.

The 2010 version of the Wasatch Cup is also set as the Cougars’ home-opener and homecoming game with all Alumni being honored at half time for their contributions to the BYU Rugby program. The 2010 Matt Brown Distinguished Alumnus Award will be awarded by the Brown Family as well during the half-time festivities.

The Wasatch Cup game will also be shown live on BYU-TV with Jarom Jordan calling the game. Check your local cable and satellite service provider listings for availability and broadcast details. BYU-TV will also offer a live webcast on www.byutv.com/streaming.

The must-see kick-off for the Wasatch Cup match is set for 1pm MT at South Field in Provo, UT. Ticket prices are $7 adults, $5 students w/ ID, $3 for kids under the age of 12 and can be bought the day of the game at the South Field gate.

Youth rugby groups of 15 or more will be admitted for $3 per person. Also, adults and students who arrive before 12.00pm can get in for $3 each person. Early admission is recommended as seating will likely be limited.

The BYU 2nd XV also saw action today and were able to post a win against the Denver Division I side by the score of 32 to 24.

BYU 1st XV vs. Denver Barbarians

1. Mikey Su’a
2. Ismael Tilialo
3. Ray Forrester
4. TJ Allred
5. Mark Bonham
6. Moana Hafoka
7. Hynie Leaaetoa
8. Dave Barnes
9. Shaun Davies
10. Dylan Lubbe
11. Lelan Latu
12. Inoke Funaki
13. Viliami Vimahi
14. Ryan Blaser
15. Andrew Harrison

SCORING:

BYU–18

Tries: Leaaetoa 40″, Su’a 48″

Conversions: Davies 1

Penalties: Davies 2 (10″, 55″)

DENVER–21

Tries: Denver 5″, 17″, 23″

Conversions: De Acheval 3

Penalties: NA