The Sacramento State men’s rugby club has kicked off its season with two victorious preseason games. The Hornets beat the University of Arizona 25-5, and on Saturday defeated San Francisco State in a blowout game 134-0.

“This is a great start for the year and has proved how mentally prepared we are,” said senior first year captain Joe Romo.

The score against San Francisco State was abnormally high for rugby, which allowed players who don’t get a lot of play time a chance to play and score, Romo said. Sixteen players scored in the game against San Francisco.

Freshman forward TJ Pedraza made the most attempts with four for five points each. This was the first time he’s scored and is his first semester ever playing rugby.

“The first two tries I was focused on scoring and the last two I just went for it,” Pedraza said.

Freshman forward Chris Turner made three attempts, which tripled his attempts in all four years of his high school rugby career. Newcomers Lucas Prueger, Nick Muhn and Julian David each made two attempts during the match.

Junior back Sundiata Cummings dominated in conversions with two points each, kicking eight conversions throughout the match. Once the team had a significant lead, junior back Tyler Wallace came in and kicked four conversions as well.

“I had to put power to the farther kicks,” Cummings said.

Although the score showed how good the Hornets are this season, the team knew it had a lot of improving to do. The main concern was team communication and the fact that many of the attempts were scored because of loose plays and isolated runners. Usually the players try to stay in pairs, Head Coach Chris Miller said.

“We let the game get away from us and played down to their level in the scrums,” Miller said.

“We were all very happy with this win, we did a lot of things right in today’s match. The guys focused on the need for improvements because we also did a lot of things wrong today,” club president Matt Ramey said. “By focusing on what we did wrong we can better ourselves for the coming game against St. Mary’s and for the rest of the season.”

The last preseason game was practice for the team before competing against tougher schools like Saint Mary’s, Miller said.

“It was nice to get an extra game in before we play Saint Mary’s,” Miller said.

“We play in one of the toughest leagues in the country,” said senior forward Jim Thompson.

The club plays teams that receive a lot more funding and have their own fields, senior forward Dan Guttierez said. The Hornets have a recreation field behind the soccer fields to practice and use for matches. The club plays teams like the University of California, Berkeley, which is the number one team in the nation, and Pac 10 schools like the University of Arizona.

“We’re really stressed for funding and are undersized,” Romo said. “So, you really have to have your heart in it to play.”

The players don’t let the size of the team affect how they play.

“I’d rather have 20 guys who can play than 50 guys who can’t,” Guttierez said.

Since the team is so small, it has been working on teamwork during practice with team activities like morning runs. The team is still recruiting and will take any level of player. Many of the newcomers this season have never played rugby before.

“We have good potential in the area and we’re always taking walk-ons,” Romo said.

However, don’t confuse rugby with football, Romo said. These sports are very different and require different skills.

“It’s a different approach to the game. In football, there are hard quick hits. Rugby is more of a continuous flow and is more mentally demanding,” Romo said.

Rugby players are continuously running and don’t stop until they score. If a player is tackled, they push the ball backwards to their teammate and just keep going. They play for a total of 80-minutes with only a 10-minute break at half time.

“A team shows how mentally in the game they are if they don’t let the ‘owwies’ and injuries affect them,” Romo said.

“It’s all about 14 guys trying to help one guy score,” Guttierez said.

Last year, the rugby team ended the season with only three victories. Already, the team is one win away from beating that record.

“We’re focused more on training this semester,” Romo said. “We just need to stay focused and play hard. The wins will come.”

The first official league games will be against Saint Mary’s, which is ranked sixth in the nation, at the Intramural Field at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. on Dec. 6. Each match is a different skill level. The first match is the A side and the second match is the B side.

“We’re not going to have as many loose plays against Saint Mary’s,” Miller said. “Saint Mary’s is a strong pack and we need more structure.”

Taylor Collis can be reached at [email protected]