The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry, wrote the poet Robert Burns, and it's very true this rugby season as college team upon college team has put games on its schedule only to have to cancel them because one team isn't ready, or the other team has a problematic COVID test.

So it has been for Queens University Charlotte and West Point. Queens has SVU, Navy, and Lander on their schedule, but didn't play any of those games. So instead their season opener was against Life University (!). In that game they led 10-3 at halftime, which is quite impressive given that they hadn't played since February 29 2020. 

Life came back to win, but that was a pretty decent start.

Army already had their decent start, recording a pretty astounding 39-0 victory over Navy on Halloween 2020. But the return engagement in New York never happened and neither did several other games tentatively scheduled.

This week, Army plays Queens in Richmond, Va. Why Richmond? School restrictions on both sides prevent teams from spending the night away from campus. So no overnight trips, hence the mid-ground venue. This was a bit of a last-minute addition to the schedule, but the teams are welcoming the chance to play.

Army-Navy Debrief: Army Solid, Navy Soul-Searches  

"I think Queens looked great in their performance versus Life," said Army Head Coach Matt Sherman. "Hard to say with us. We've had a stop-start preparation with multiple players down from training."

Players going into isolation (such as if a roommate tests positive) hasn't helped. And all of this has also made it tough to train regularly.

Nolan Green's try vs Navy October 31, 2020.

"This weekend we didn't get to train Monday or Tuesday and only an hour on Wednesday, so preparation hasn't been ideal to say the least," said the West Point coach and former USA flyhalf. But, he added, "I still really like our team and their mindset."

Hey, at least they're playing.