Flanker Ray Blacketer, 20, Florence, Mont., law enforcement, of the Cardinal-Osprey hybrid team presses mightily into a scrum while trying to gain possession of the ball during a match against the University of Idaho Vandals.
The NIC rugby club failed to defend its title at the 11th annual Kootenai Cup, finishing with a 2-1 record after the chaos on the field settled.
“Overall, I would say we played well,” said coach Joe Malloy. “I was most impressed with the heart the rookies had out there. You just can’t teach that.”
NIC was supposed to make its first appearance of the year in Cardinal red at the tournament.
Due to a paperwork mishap, NIC had to merge with the North Idaho men’s rugby club, the Osprey, in order to compete. This wasn’t the first time the two teams worked together in a series of games.
Not all players were enthusiastic about the Cardinal-Osprey merger at the tournament.
“We played well, but the combined teams add a little bit more confusion,” said Cardinal and physical plant worker Adam Mortensen.
The University of Idaho rugby team won the tournament this year handing the Cardinal-Osprey hybrid a loss in the first game they played. Despite the sluggish start, returning sophomore captain Steven Populus said he didn’t let the results put a damper on his mood.
“We will be good competition in this tournament,” said Populus. “There is definitely room for improvement.”
The Cardinal-Osprey hybrid looked to redeem themselves in their shttps://nicsentinel.com/?p=427&preview=trueecond game against Bozeman, and with a final score of 31-7, they did just that. Flanker Ray Blacketer pointed out a few things they did during that game. Making more try’s, which is rugby terminology for goals, was at the top of the list.
“We need to score more try’s, and we really need to work on tackling,” Blacketer said. “We had three guys on one; it’s not necessary.”
Determined on not leaving the tournament with a negative record, the defending champions won their final game against Butte 45-0. Flankers don’t normally score often in rugby, but Blacketer succeeded in running the ball in for a try during their game against Butte.
“This was our best game of the tournament, and it made my whole season to see Ray [Blacketer] get to run it in and score,” said Malloy.
Even without earning the first place title for a second year, Malloy said he was enthusiastic about the tournament’s turnout.
Veteran Osprey player Carlos Valero said he was “excited” to have NIC players mixed in with his team in an attempt to defend the title. At the days end, he voiced a positive opinion about the tournament.
“Honor and respect is not exclusively given to the team who wins the trophy,” said Valero. “In rugby, it is just as important to have a successful social event during and after the tournament.”
Coach Malloy and the NIC rugby players look forward to playing without the Osprey in their season opener Oct. 8 at Gonzaga University.
