Over the weekend the UCSD men’s rugby team took part in a tournament in Long Beach. The tournament provided veteran players some extended playing time against unfamiliar opponents, as well providing newcomers valuable live game experience as the Tritons played in five 30 minute games on Saturday. In the first game against CSU-Long Beach, the Tritons started out strong with a long run by Bailey Schantz, but were undone by costly turnovers and lackadaisical defending which unfortunately contributed to the losing effort. Between games the Tritons were able to correct many of the errors in the first game and played much more physically and determined in their second game against Humboldt. Led by strong defensive efforts by the forwards and some timely runs by Jack Dickson, Bailey Schant,z and Fernando Harris, the Tritons were able to secure a strong victory in what was a complete team effort. Unfortunately, following this game, a number of players suffered injuries which weakened the squad as a whole for the rest of the tournament. In the following game the Tritons were barely beaten out by CSU-Northridge in a scrappy low scoring defensive battle. Following this tough loss the Tritons were able to regroup and comfortably beat Azusa Pacific in their fourth game of the day. The Tritons were able to take advantage of their superior athleticism in the back line as once again Bailey Schantz and Fernando Harris scored as well as Yo Jeremijenko-Conley. Despite this fantastic win, the Tritons were feeling the attrition of the tournament as many key players were unable to play in the final game and the UCSD men were defeated by CSU-Long Beach’s gold side. Overall, the tournament should be considered a success because of the team chemistry that was built from playing together in live situations, and this was exemplified in the fantastic team wins over both Humboldt and APU, while the losses formed the basis of teaching points that the Tritons can continue to learn from as they prepare for league season in the Winter.