Brigham Young unveiled a schedule listing four national-caliber senior teams, an aggressive pursuit in a year that also sees the Cougars join a conference of Utah and Idaho schools and spearhead the launch of a high-profile postseason tournament.
Taken together, the initiatives suggest the defending university champ reckons the college landscape inadequate for its objective of being a top sport on the 27,000-student Provo, Utah, campus, home to some 21 NCAA teams.
'This year's schedule really breaks new ground for us in terms of difficulty', head coach David Smyth said in a prepared statement.
Old Puget Sound Beach, the Denver Barbarians, New York Athletic Club, and Las Vegas Blackjacks predominate a seven-week stretch in February and March. The contest against 2012 Super League champ NYAC, at the students' South Field, reprises the 'challenge match' format pitting college and senior titlists.
But the other three games indicate the Cougars can't find enough competitive college opponents. During its two-year stint in USARFU's variously named first division, Brigham Young consistently scored 50 plus during conference matches and lost just 1 contest, the 2011 final.
Having captured its second USARFU championship last May, the next month BYU exited Boulder's nationwide league, which has been shrinking as teams switch to regional, NCAA-style conferences. Subsequently, the Cougars emerged at the head of an eight-team knockout competition called the Varsity Cup, which final will be contested at Salt Lake City's Rio Tinto stadium, according to the team's release.
Historically much stronger than its in-state rivals, BYU simultaneously has entered its second XV in the newly formed Utah Collegiate Rugby Conference, a move matched by archrival Utah, which the Cougars play home and away.
Presently snowbound, BYU opens its season this weekend in Nevada against a Utah 2d XV and Idaho State.
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Thanks Kurt
NYAC is really excited for this opportunity to go and play BYU, hopefully we can have a nice crowd and have a great experience.
Posted by: Bruce McLane | 08 January 2013 at 14:50
So college teams playing senior clubs is now within the framework of traditional American sports but playing the best college teams is not. Got it.
Posted by: Varsity Cup Hypocrites | 08 January 2013 at 19:35
Good for them to seek out tougher competition. Playing UVU or USU or (enter random university/college here) with their first 15 does nothing for them as a team or as coaches and players. Until the level of play is raised around the nation or in their neck of the country, I hope they continue on this course.
Peace to the nations of Zulu and Islam.
Posted by: Can't have your cake and eat it too.... | 09 January 2013 at 03:52
"So college teams playing senior clubs is now within the framework of traditional American sports but playing the best college teams is not. Got it."
Well said. I think all the Varsity Cup teams (BYU in particular) believed that they would be able to compete in a "collegiate" regular season in a conference and then go on to spurn the USAR playoffs and do the Varsity Cup thing instead. This seems to be working out for Navy (ACRL), Dartmouth (Ivy), UCLA, Utah and Cal (PAC-6), but not so well for BYU, Air Force, and Notre Dame. Seems like the team that will be hurt the most by this will be Notre Dame, as how do you recruit kids to come play rugby when you don't even have a league to play in. Air Force will get the kids that they get, BYU will get the foreigners and Utah Mormons, but ND could see a big dropoff in their program from this. I suspect we will see them clamoring to get into the Big Ten or perhaps even ACRL next year.
Posted by: VCH | 09 January 2013 at 09:02
Don't be a fool. ND rugby recruits from the campus student body, not from high schools. Same with AFA and even BYU to a lessor extent.
Admission to these fine schools is difficult. For those interested in the catholic Golden Dome, being an officer in the Air Force or a faith-based LDS education you attend if admitted. There is no rugby recruiting. It doesn't matter if Davenport offers scholarships or not. These schools aren't competing with any other school. No hot HSAA player heads to these types of schools because of rugby, much less if Bowling Green is scheduled.
Posted by: try to make a point worth reading | 09 January 2013 at 16:13
So what happened to make USA sevens take away the guaranteed spot for the CRC qualifier in Vegas?
Posted by: Seven Deadly Sins | 09 January 2013 at 17:14
TTMAPW--I do know that Mary Washington actively recruits kids for their club. They tend to go after kids that will admitted to the school or in some cases kids that are in college.
Posted by: Can't have your cake and eat it too.... | 10 January 2013 at 04:36
Notre Dame absolutely attempts to recruit from high schools-Cathedral, Gonzaga, etc.
Posted by: VCH | 10 January 2013 at 06:24
TTMAPW,
are trying to tell me/others that byu have talented rugby playing polynesians on their squad by happenstance? surely you jest.
Posted by: 7's vs 15's | 10 January 2013 at 08:35
I would love to watch BYU on a regular basis. It will also be interesting to see how Utah does with its new coaching staff. BYU is also having a reserve team playing in the college division in Utah. The state of Utah has some great rugby.
Posted by: Outer Banks Rugby | 11 January 2013 at 06:26
The thought that BYU and Notre Dame don't recruit high school rugby players is ludicrous.
When O'Leary was hired, Notre Dame stated that one of the primary reasons they were willing to make such an investment was the growth of rugby at Catholic high schools across the country.
Posted by: Roger Roger | 11 January 2013 at 09:01
Every successful school needs its own angle -
Cal has years and years of history and a bundle of cash that comes with that. BYU has the islander connection and the fact they can be older because of the missions they go on. Arkansas State has in-state tuition fees to bring South Africans in. Life has the ability to give full ride scholarships to kids that cannot get in some schools - they do recruit primarily from the SE USA though.
All the new boys on the scene are using rugby in some way. Wheeling Jesuit are recruiting from Catholic HS offering 12K per student. Davenport are really an online school and trying to up their academic markers. Not sure about Lindenwood though.
The big name schools need to stop dreaming of varsity status. It just isn't going to happen - football is king and will always be so. But where there are openings they have to take them. Tennessee uses the local HS school leagues to recruit - its limited for sure but they are always a good team. Penn State had someone donate money to raise their status - so it can be done.
Posted by: Everyone has an angle | 11 January 2013 at 11:02
BYU is the leading the way forward for all of college rugby. I have no association with BYU but they are doing it right.
Posted by: Shooter the Dog | 11 January 2013 at 11:14
Surprised more people are not speculating how the new coaches at Utah will do ?
Posted by: Haystacks Calhoun | 11 January 2013 at 11:56
I agree with Angle - schools have got to stop copying and just build on what they have available to them.
Posted by: Angle 2 | 12 January 2013 at 06:56
the d1a college competition still has good teams (army, life, ark st, davenport, st mary's) but falls off quickly and d1a has lots of d2 sides. its the most screwed up college competition ever. varsity cup takes too many good team away from the competition.
once usar opened up d1a to just about any team in a conference that wanted in, they needed to close the d1aa designation as it no longer was needed to separate the cpd from the rest.
now the divisions make no sense with so many poor teams in d1a and in many cases much better teams in d1aa.
it matters less the championship contested (d1a, vc, d1aa) and more the integrity of college rugby as a whole. it was a big mistake for usar and the committees to not understand this point.
Posted by: 2 cents | 13 January 2013 at 10:18