Old Mid-South Rivals Arkansas State and Davenport meet for the final game of the two teams’ fall seasons, and it has the feel of something of a final exam for the semester, too.

ASU has been testing out new players and a new coach, and Davenport has been adjusting to the graduation of several key performers. Both still relatively new programs in terms of their elevated status on campus, they are dealing with how to rebuild and succeed at the same time.

“This game is kind of like a mid-term or an exam,” said ASU Director of Rugby Matt Huckaby. “But in a way it’s also like the first game of the spring. We’ll take our A-side and try to win and see where we are as a team.”

“We’ve had some good games this fall,” added Davenport Head Coach James Wood. “And playing against a program as strong as Arkansas State, yes I guess you could say it’s an exam of a sort.”

Davenport lost recently to Indiana 18-17 and the team learned a lot from that experience.

“We learned we need to be a bit more patient with the ball on offense,” said Wood. “We need to trust in the pattern, and that little space you see now will be more the next time around. We can’t be caught playing defense for 80% of the game.”

Interestingly, that’s the plan for Arkansas State - make Davenport play a lot of defense.

“We need to play smart, structured rugby,” said Huckaby. “We have to do the little things right, and go through the phases without turning the ball over. We’ve got decent size; we’re fit and we can run hard. So we’ll use that.”

“We expect a high-caliber game, which is what we want,” added Wood. “They move the ball around well - more of a run-and-gun type offense, so we can’t get caught up in defensive rucks. If you don’t have the opportunity to slow the ball or steal it, you need to get in the defensive line and be vigilant.”

Whiles Arkansas State will have the experienced Zinzan Elan-Puttick running the show from flyhalf, Davenport is learning to live life without JP Eloff in the #10 jersey. They’ve done well there, with Noah Zomberg taking charge of that position. Reece Czarnecki has shown up on the scoresheet a lot on the wing, but will be tested defensively.

“I like our speed out wide,” said Huckaby of Arkansas State. That may well be where the battle is.