The Sacramento State men’s rugby team lost to UC Davis in a high-intensity match that ended 44-17 in favor of the Aggies. The UC Davis men’s rugby team is ranked third in the nation.

UC Davis scored the first try of the game and a conversion kick. Sac State followed up with two tries and gained the lead early in the first half but failed to make any of the conversions on them.

The Hornets came up strong and drove up the field several times through multiple rolling mauls and rucks, but the defense failed to contain any breakouts which led the Aggies to score two more times and a single conversion, ending the first half with a score of 19-10 in favor of UC Davis.

The second half began with a try for Sacramento State which brought the score up to 19-17 with the conversion, but the Hornets were still unable to contain any breakouts despite stopping the Aggies cold during their rucks and mauls. This led to a rally for UC Davis where they repeatedly scored on breakout runs five more times before the game ended.

The tries for Sacramento State were made by Craig Manno and Mark Pimentel, both sophomores with undeclared majors, and Danny Gutierez, a senior majoring in business administration.

This was the seventh game of the season with two more home games and an away game before the playoffs. Men’s rugby will next play on March 8 against University of Nevada, Reno.