One of the weirder endings to a game came last week when Minnesota beat Iowa State 36-35.

The Iowa State players thought that they were leading (we're not sure if the referee told them this or they misheard—whatever actually happened, the ISU players were pretty sure they were in front) and so when they got the ball at the end of they game they kicked to touch. It was only then they the Cyclones fond out they had lost.

It was a harsh lesson in being ab-so-lutely clear on the score. It was also, win or lose, an indication of how far the University of Minnesota has come. After deciding to move out of the Big Ten (in2019 they were 2-4-1 in that competition) the Minnesota rugby program signed on Sean Lindersmith as their coach, and, like everyone else, sat though 2020 with no rugby to play.

That layoff was beneficial for Minnesota because Lindersmith had time to recruit and work on other aspects of the program, and came out of the shutdown with a plan to be in the Heart of America. And now, they seem to be in a pretty good spot.

DIAA-Level Men College Rankings Week 6

"We spent the entire pandemic year recruiting and fundraising, and practicing as a team and up-skilling ourselves on the basics," said Lindersmith. "We couldn't play games—we got two games at the end of spring—so we worked on putting together a team culture."

During that time the team—coaches and players—came together to make a decision on what conference to play in. They toyed with the independent schedule option but that can be very difficult, and most nearby teams are locked into a schedule anyway. The Heart of America, a DIAA league with teams that are, on the whole, closer than the teams in the Big Ten, seemed right. The Gophers decided to petition to join the conference.

"The teams there are similar in size and support from the school," said Lindersmith. "The travel was better. It was a good fit."

So that led them to last Saturday and the 36-35 Minnesota win. 

"It was a great performance from both teams," said Lindersmith. "It was a very physical match on both sides of the; we knew it was going to be a good match. They are a good team, but we know we are a good team too. We were down 35-24 with ten minutes to go and the guys just stuck to their systems."

Captain and flyhalf Russ Enea has been crucial in keeping the team on task and he has some talented backs to work with including wing Jack Burniston and fullback Nick Cambio. Up front the entire pack has been working nicely together, but leading the way is probably prop Ben Withey and hooker Luke Geister-Jones in the front row, and flanker Jack Robinson is quick and mobile.

"The performance of the entire 23 has been pretty cool to see as a coach," said Lindersmith. "Everyone's on the same page. The players have driven everything we're doing and what they're doing is pretty special."