On the afternoon of October 29, the UCSD Men’s Rugby Team took the field for the first time to scrimmage against the Mira Costa Men’s Rugby Team. As both squads fielded their young teams, the competition proved exciting as Mira Costa and UCSD both performed well. The first half was extremely tense, UCSD started slow out of the blocks and allowed Mira Costa to score twice. UCSD then rebounded as thanks to a series of beautiful passes and crushing runs by George McMahon, UCSD scored and the game was on again. New players for UCSD stepped up offensively, leaving Mira Costa exposed in the latter half of the first half. In addition, UCSD’s defensive play was strong and led to turnovers, but it was not enough to stop Mira Costa from scoring twice more. The second half was much more challenging as fatigue began setting in for both teams but especially UCSD, as the big hits by Mira Costa caused UCSD to lose their spirit. Mira Costa took advantage of this situation and scored multiple times to increase the lead and fluster the UCSD defense. Unfortunately, UCSD succumbed to their fatigue, which helped Mira Costa cruise to a winning score of 41-24.

-Judah Word