St. Mary's v Utah All About Questions
St. Mary's v Utah All About Questions
St Mary's faced SFGG last week. Michael Geib photo.
There are far, far too many questions to answer when Utah visits St. Mary’s this weekend in Moraga.
St. Mary’s has, as usual, thrown themselves into the deep end with a series of tough games against men’s clubs. They’ve lost so far to OMBAC, San Diego Old Aztecs, and SFGG, but losing to those teams is not a shameful thing. Through those games the Gaels have started figuring out who works where, and how they need to improve to win at the highest level. Utah would be wise to ignore the scores of those games, and remember, instead, that St. Mary’s played them.
“We’re very lucky that the college allows us to play men’s clubs,” said Head Coach Tim O’Brien. “It gives us an entry into the tradition of rugby, and we get game time for a lot of guys, making it tough to get onto the 1st team and stay there. When I played for the Old Blues, you were never safe on the Old Blues. You always had to work to keep your spot. That’s what I want.”
Meanwhile, Utah is just getting started, but they have a talented and athletic young team, with a few key veterans leading the way. The Utes have a lot to prove, coming back as they are from their 2013 suspension. This season is really their first full season back, and it’s a chance to get back to being one of the teams everyone is scared to play.
But we don’t know if any of that - if St. Mary’s is putting the pieces together or if Utah has that united sense of purpose - has come to fruition until they play. It’s very early days, but an important test for both.
The St. Mary’s veteran group of Dylan Audsley, captain Cooper Maloney, Kingsley McGowan, vice captain, Michael O’Neill, Henry Hall, Holden Yungert, and versatile utility man Mike McCarthy all rested during the 7s fall. With such a tough 2013-14 behind them, that was probably a good thing. It also gave the freshmen and sophomores a chance to play, and get some experience.
The Utes coaches, for their part, are trying to build the depth St. Mary’s has. Program director Mark Drown calls is an experimental year in many ways. He is looking for some promising youngsters, like Chad Gough and Jesse Afuvia to break through, but it will be tough this weekend.
St. Mary’s kicks off against Utah at noon Pacific Time. The game is set to be live streamed here.
