Saint Mary's Looks to BYU to Show What They've Learned
Saint Mary's Looks to BYU to Show What They've Learned
Saint Mary's is still looking to shake off their loss to Central Washington, and hope this weekend to do that against BYU.
Guilty perhaps of too many mistakes and missing a chance to finish off that game, the Gaels now look to address those issues against the Cougars.
Club president Joshua Allan says the team is taking lessons from both that loss and the earlier loss to University of British Columbia.
"I think especially in both losses they were massive learning opportunities for us," said Allen. "UBC and Central took advantage of our mistakes. You can't give good opponents opportunities like that."
There were moments to that the Gaels would like to have back, for sure.
"It was good for us to have those losses-better to learn those lessons now then when we can't come back from them," added Allan.
Of course the thing is with Saint Mary's is that they live and die by the sword. They play a riskier game than most, and often it pays off. Sometimes it burns them.
"You take risks," said Allan. "It's how we play. There is an understanding. We want to play expansive rugby and do that we don't want to be afraid to put the ball wide. And not doing it strays from our identity as a team. So yeah we're willing to roll the dice."
Rolling the dice has come up a winner more time than not. It has seen Saint Mary's make the D1A final (as happened last year) and win championships (although not since 2017). They feel they have a good formula, and the players that thrive are the ones that embrace their approach.
"Each year we try to keep the culture similar," explained Allan. "Energy is always high. We work to include the young guys, build them up, and embrace them into the team. A big part of our culture is, who shows up, who works hard. We all get playing time. Our B-side and C-side play more games than some other college A-sides. [Head Coach] Tim O'Brien is great about giving guys games."
And that means that players who want to show up and work hard will get games, and that keeps them coming out and attracts more players.
"That's a real privilege," said Allan. "A lot of our wins on our A-side comes from our B-side. No one's safe."
So this week on to BYU, "one of my favorite games of the year," said Allan. "They have powerful backs, powerful forwards. They can put it wide, they can play vertical, and you know it's going to be a fight for 80 minutes. Playing BYU you have nothing to hide behind, and to get a chance to play them every year is a privilege."
