UNL lost an ugly game to Iowa State last Saturday 36-47. This weekend the team travels to Laramie, Wy for the annual Jackelope Tournament.

UNL plays Lincoln City Saturday 11:00AM Aug. 30th at Flemming Fields. (27th and Leighton Ave)

UNL Repeats as Cornhusker State Games Champion.

UNL Defends its Cornhusker State games 7s Crown this Saturday, July 19th

All Games at Standing Bear Park in Lincoln, located approximately at 7th and South Streets.  

THE FALL 2008 SCHEDULE IS POSTED - ALL PLAYERS CLEAR THEIR WORK SCHEDULES AND OTHER COMMITMENTS ACCORDINGLY

UNL Defeats Creighton, Wrapping Spring Campaign

UNL defeated Creighton University on April 25th by a final of 45 to 20.  It was a good match by both sides and a positive way to end the season.

Stay posted to the Website for the Summer 7s schedule as UNL begins preparation for their defense of the Cornhusker State Games 7s championship.

Friday Night Match

Nebraska takes on Creighton University this Friday evening, April 25th under the lights at the turf field located at 17th and Vine on the main UNL Campus.

Please come support your Huskers in the last game of the season.

Western Playoff Results

Over the weekend, the Huskers lost to Air Force by a score of 40 to 12 and to LSU by a score of 20 to 7.

While UNL now consistently competes at a higher level, both games demonstrate that we need to get better at preparing in all aspects of the game.  Against Air Force, UNL was down 7 to 0 at half-time, but could not overcome the depth and fitness of the Zoomies.  Against LSU, UNL was threatening to tie or go ahead late in the game, but allowed a lack of awareness to result in late try by the Tigers that squashed any comeback hopes.

UNL Rugby extends heartfelt sympathies to current player Jeff Hunter and his family in their time of difficulty and loss.  Our thoughts are with you Jeff...

Nebraska Wins Central Conference, after all...

Due to the results in Manhattan, Kansas over the March 8th weekend, Nebraska is the 2007-2008 Central Conference Champions and will advance to the Western Regional Final Four on April 5th and 6th in Ft. Worth, Texas.

All eyes and efforts on Texas as a victory in our first game qualifies Nebraska for the National Championship Final Sixteen.

*Husker Invitational Results*

All matches over the March 1st weekend were highly competitive with the following results:

"A Side"
1st - Missouri
2nd - Colorado State
3rd - Nebraska
4th - Iowa State

"B Side"
1st - Nebraska
2nd - Colorado State
3rd - Iowa State
4th - Missouri

SPECIAL THANKS TO THE OMAHA GOATS FOR ALL OF THEIR REFEREE, TOUCH JUDGE, SPECTATOR, AND FINANCIAL SUPPORT OF THE INVITATIONAL.

The next Husker Invitational will be October 11th and 12th, 2008.  Any team interested in competing, please e-mail: bfred1@unl.edu or tsmith10@unl.edu

*Appeal Update*

Nebraska has lost our final appeal regarding the forfeiture to Oklahoma last Fall.  While we strongly feel that the decisions and approach of both our regional and national bodies are simply ridiculous, we are now 3 and 1 in league play and await the results of other league matches to be held on March 8th.   These results will dictate where we travel for the Western playoffs.

*San Diego Update *

Sunday, February 10th

The University of Nebraska just put the finishing touches on a great extended weekend in San Diego, watching the USA Eagles 7s team defeat France 12-10 in an exciting Bowl Semi-Final.  This comes after a full day (24 matches) of rugby viewing at Petco Stadium on Saturday.  All players  and coaches were treated to a very high standard of rugby, which made the game look so fluid and easy.

Unfortunately, our match on Friday against UC Irvine was not so smooth.  In a dismal performance that witnessed Irvine consistently find an inordinate amount of space, UNL fell behind at halftime 0 to 28.  In the second half, UNL went back to hard charging, go forward rugby and reduced the deficit to 10 points before falling 23 to 40.

In the 7s division, UNL entered a relatively inexperienced squad who lost two matches.  The players performed admirably, made some difficult tackles and created space with the ball.  One of the 7s stalwarts, Drew Cuiffo, has suggested that UNL make 7s rugby a staple in our program.

Finally, the UNL Alumni swept the Masters Division, winning both of their matches handily.  Moreover, the Alumni were hardly tested and challenged the University to a "friendly" (yet full contact) match to end the tournament on Friday.  The Alumni prevailed in a wide-open, fluid encounter all orchestrated around a large, red "N" flag planted in the middle of the pitch.  

All in all, the weekend was positive, we managed to avert a dismissal from the hotel, and we plan to return next year.  

Thanks again to all Alumni, Family, and Friends

Thursday, February 7th

The University of Nebraska lost their opening game of the San Diego Invitational to the University of Utah by a final score of 58 to 11.
While UNL played a competitive first 50 minutes or so, a clearly superior Utah squad poured it on in the second half.

Tomorrow, the University of Nebraska will have a full day of rugby: 7s tourney, Alumni matches, and a collegiate 15s match-up against UC-Irvine at 11 AM.  It will be a day full of rugby and we are confident that the ship will be righted.

San Diego Information

Thanks to all friends and family for their recent generous donations: t-shirts and website recognition will be taken care of upon return from San Diego.

Check the website for updates on scores from San Diego (we will try to post items immediately).

Travel Details:

UNL will be flying to San Diego tomorrow at 2:50 from Omaha and returning late Sunday evening to Omaha.

The team will be staying at:
Pacific Inn Hotel & Suites
1655 Pacific Hwy.
San Diego, CA 92101
http://www.pacificinnsd.com/

Thursday and Friday games are at:
Robb Fields
2525 Beacon Street
San Diego, CA  92107

Contact Number:
Coach T. Smith @ 720.838.5450

San Diego Invitational

The University of Nebraska will play the University of Utah on Thursday, February 7th and the University of California at Irvine on Friday, February 8th in connection with the San Diego Invitational.

The University of Nebraska Alumni squad will be participating in a 15s Tourney on that Friday and a combination UNL/Alumni team will also be play in the 7s tourney held on the same day.

UNL, Alumni, and supporters will also attend the IRB San Diego Sevens on Saturday and Sunday held at Petco Stadium.

Specific travel details forthcoming...

December 1st

*San Diego is On*

The Nebraska Rugby Team and Alumni/Supporters will be going to San Diego February 6 through the 10th of 2008 to participate in the San Diego Invitational and watch the San Diego Sevens.

The initial $100 down payment for all current players is due on December 7th.

November 19th, 2007

"Big Twelve Tournament a Success"

The University of Nebraska A-side went 2 and 1 over the weekend in the Big XII tourney held in Norman, Oklahoma.
Under perfect weather and playing on impeccable pitches, UNL beat the University of Kansas 52 to 5, the University of Texas 26 to 7, but fell to Texas A&M by a score of 31 to 0.  UNL was not helped in that loss by two overlapping yellow cards, especially against a very good Aggie squad.

UNL (with the help of 4 to 5 Iowa State Cylones) sought out additional games, helping to create a full B side schedule.  In these games, UNL and Cyclones played well -  ending up 1-1-1 - and showed steady improvement as the weekend progressed.

All in all, a lot of good rugby to end a challenging fall campaign.

November 10th, 2007

The University of Nebraska defeated the Oklahoma Sooners this afternoon by a score of 60-32.  With this victory, Nebraska wraps up its second straight Central Division Championship.  Congratulations to all players, coaches, alumni, and supporters.

Next weekend UNL travels to the Big XII tournament in Norman, Oklahoma for the final games of the Fall 2007 season.

November 07, 2007

This Saturday UNL hosts the University of Oklahoma in a crucial Central League match-up.  Kickoff is 1 PM @ the Mable Lee Field on the UNL main campus.  B side to immediately follow.

October 31st, 2007

This upcoming weekend UNL has a bye.  However, UNL is sending 4 players - Brandon Smid, Jim Crouse, Zac Wurth, and Christian Alavi to Glendale, Colorado as part of the Central Collegiate All-Star team.  This squad will play select-sides from other unions to determine the 2008 Western Region Collegiate Select Side.  The games will be played in the top-notch new Infinity stadium in Glendale, which, in itself, should be a great experience.

Trevor Richards, Wesley Meredith, and Kane Znenmacek were also selected to the pool of players, but will not be making the trip.

This is a big honor for these individuals and our club.  Beyond UNL being represented in select-side rugby, these kind of venues will allow the players to benefit from higher levels of coaching and game experience, which they can then bring back to our club and help us get better.

Again, congratulations to the boys and good luck!  

October 28th, 2007

The University of Nebraska defeated Kansas State University yesterday by a final score of 34 to 21.  This was a tough game, with UNL leading 20 to 13 and K-State pressing 20 minutes into the second half.  UNL did show poise and gathered the game together to pull out a crucial conference victory.  While  UNL did utilize space fairly well, we lost the battle at the breakdown to a hard-charging K-State pack.  As we typically do well around the base, we will work on getting back to playing go forward rugby in time for the big match up versus the Oklahoma Sooners on the weekend of November 10th in Lincoln (details forthcoming).

The B-side lost to K-State 12 to 0.  While all participants played hard, we have yet to demonstrate an adequate understanding of the game in the B side affairs.  However, we are not discouraged and will continue to get our B side up to par and develop some crucial depth.

October 20th
UNL defeated Truman State University this afternoon by a score of 70-29.  Generally, UNL returned to playing some good, balanced rugby and both backs and forwards executed the game plan. Truman State is a well-coached and disciplined team.  This combined with some good refereeing made the rugby quite enjoyable, despite the seemingly lopsided final score.  Of note, Kane "Zippy" Znenmacek took advantage of some good team set-up to score 4 tries - perhaps a UNL record...

Despite the efforts of Lee "I put the izzle in dazzle" Schneider and his wing man Jim Crouse, Nebraska lost a spirited B side affair by an estimated score of 35 to 30.  Near the end of a tied match, Truman State was awarded a quite makeable penalty directly in front of the posts.  In an oddly reminiscent setting, UNL urged Truman to run a play instead of taking the kick.  They did, rambled over two UNL defenders, and won the game with a try in the corner.  Whoops...

Next Saturday, UNL travels to Manhattan, Kansas for a league match-up with Kansas State University.

10/15/07

This weekend saw UNL host the highly successful 30th consecutive Alumni game and festivities.  Over 60 alumni witnessed a return to the dominance of old as a well-disciplined, heavily girded, and quite hungry alumni team really took it to the University squad on the field.  The post-match functions (as well as significant pre-match fraternization) were, as usual, top notch and both old boys and current players got the chance to associate, share insights, stories, and many different variants of beverage.  All in all, it is clear that UNL Rugby is much more than those players currently competing and that the long tradition is alive and well. Moreover, it was resolved that team and the Alumni are going to seriously consider putting together a Husker tour to San Diego in conjunction with the USA 7s event on February 9th and 10th of 2008.  More details forthcoming...

THANKS AGAIN TO ALL ALUMNI FOR THEIR CONTINUING SUPPORT AND GENEROUS DONATIONS TO UNL RUGBY!

10/07/07

The University of Missouri beat the University of Nebraska on Saturday, October 6th by a score of 25-14.  In actuality, the game was not as close as the final score indicates. Missouri held a 25-0 lead until almost 15 minutes into the second half and dominated most aspects of play.  The UNL B side - with several A players in the match - beat the Missouri B side by an approximate score of 17 to 10.
Missouri is a good squad with plenty of numbers.  We hope that they would step up to Division I as they would be a good addition to the West Central League and a team we would look forward to playing again.  For UNL, the disappointing display of the A side match will hopefully motivate us to get back to the basics and put in some hard work before our league match against Truman State on October 20th.

This upcoming weekend UNL welcomes back all of our past legends for Alumni Weekend.  To typify the festivities as "interesting" is an understatement and everyone looks forward to the game and oh so much more...
A final determination of match time (Friday night or Saturday morning) will be hashed out by Tuesday and the website updated accordingly.

10/01/07

The UNL A-side beat Iowa State 27-10 last Friday evening.  Iowa State is a good team that has an effective blend of physicality and finesse. The game was very close at halftime and it is a credit to UNL that we pulled away in the second half.  In fact, there were even hints of our new "dazzle" strategy, although the forwards have claimed full responsibility for its implementation.
The B side lost in a close affair 17-14.  Although a loss, we really played much better than the last B side outing and look forward to continued improvement.

Next Game: Saturday, October 6th versus the University of Missouri @ Columbia, MO.  Kickoff is 2PM with a B side to follow.

9/23/07
In the UNL scrimmage held Saturday, September 22nd, the Red squad nipped the Black squad 29-26.  After the disappointment of not playing Oklahoma State as scheduled, the scrimmage was important to our attitude and development.  New guys continued to learn and the veterans could work on patterns in a live scenario.  Special thanks to Derek of Lincoln City who played admirably and help fill out our virtually-complete two sides, to former UNL coach JP Davies for his attendance and insight, and to Coach Nate Wood for his impeccable refereeing, especially his  "play on" approach.  Next Saturday, September 29th, UNL hosts Iowa State University.  Iowa State is always a tough squad and they beat us in both the A and B side affairs in Lincoln last Spring.  Game time is 2PM at Mable Lee Field on the UNL main campus with a B side match to follow.

*SCHEDULE CHANGE*
9.21.07
Unfortunately, Oklahoma State canceled their trip for this Saturday's (September 22nd) game. Instead, we will have a scrimmage at 3 PM @ Mable Lee Field on the UNL campus.  All players must attend and spectators encouraged.

9/16/07  On Friday evening September 14th, UNL Rugby prevailed over the Omaha Goats 36-15.  Generally, the team performed well against the to be expected physicality of the Goats and turned a tight affair into a fairly comfortable win.  Perhaps the most notable comment came from former UNL Coach now player/coach of the Goats, Niko Waqalaivi.  After the game, Niko - limping and swollen -    commented that "you guys beat the s*** out of me."  Coming from Niko these words mean a lot and UNL should be congratulated as the shoe has been/is usually on the other foot when we take on the always tough Goats squad.  
In the B side affair, UNL put out an almost entirely new-to-the-sport squad and lost handily to a cohesive Creighton University.   While a great learning experience for many, the final score of 0-60ish is disappointing and both coaches and players have a lot of work to do for the upcoming B side schedule.  
Thanks to the many old boys in the crowd and we appreciate the continued support from all.  Next Saturday we have our first official league match of the Fall against Oklahoma State University.  The A side match is tentatively scheduled for 2 PM at Mable Lee field on the UNL campus, with a B side match to immediately follow.

9/11/07  Over the past weekend, UNL Rugby made their annual trip to the Wyoming Jackalope Tournament, which is an always challenging event with quality opposition.  In the first game UNL lost to a good Colorado State team 21-15 when CSU scored a try with no time left on the clock.  UNL then rebounded by defeating a rebuilding University of New Mexico team 7-5 in a messy affair.  On Sunday, UNL soundly defeated the University of Colorado 20-0, with the highlight of the weekend occurring in the waning moments of the game.  Up 15-0 with no time remaining, UNL had a scrum within the CU 22 meter.  The UNL coaching staff suggested to the players to kick the ball to touch to end the game.  However - and in response to "encouragement" from the Colorado players to keep playing - stand-in scrumhalf Zac Wurth picked the ball from the scrum, broke a few tackles and scored the final try of the weekend.  Hence, UNL finished 2 and 1 in the tournament and took 3rd place - the best showing in recent memory.  Special thanks go to former head coach Tim Russo - now the "first counsel" of UNL Rugby - as he contributed key coaching and inspirational comments.  Also, former UNL player turned Wyoming railroad conductor, Damion Hoffman made a guest appearance in Sunday's match and delivered his usual stellar performance. Finally, thanks to all parents and supporters who made the trip to Laramie.  While "early days," the weekend showed that we have a good mix of veterans and rookies keen to play rugby; hence, we are cautiously optimistic about the upcoming Fall.  Next game Friday September 14th: A side versus the Omaha Goats, B side versus Creighton University.  Game Time 7:00 PM at Mable Lee field on the UNL campus.

7/17/07  The Nebraska Rugby team took another step in the right direction during the Cornhusker State Games.  The team won the gold medal in the sevens tournament premier division dominanted by men's clubs.  It showed that the summer has not had the effect on the boys as it had in past years.  Cheers to the boys for their accomplishment.  Jim's team got silver in the social side too.