No blood, no foul on the rugby field

The NIC Ospreys played in the first annual Palouse Sevens Tournament in Pullman, Wash., Saturday on the campus of Washington State University. The Ospreys lost all four games that they competed in, including a 24-5 loss to the University of Idaho, a 28-0 defeat to Central Washinton University and 21-0 losses to the University of Washington and Pacific University.

Sixteen teams competed in the tournament, two of them from Central Washington University. The two teams competed against each other in the championship game.

The tournament was a seven-on-seven tournament as opposed to 15-on-15.

As a result, the Palouse Sevens Tournament benefitted the teams with speedy, elusive backs as opposed to strong, hard-hitting forwards.

Another different aspect of the Palouse Sevens Tournament was the amount of time in regulation.

In 15-on-15 games, the halves are 40 minutes of nonstop action as opposed to the Palouse tournament, in which teams played two seven-minute halves.

Previously, NIC beat the University of Idaho Vandals 17-7 Saturday, Sept. 22 in Post Falls.

It was the Ospreys second match with a brand new team.

“No one was walking around, and there was a lot of heart and a lot of good tackling,” coach Joe Malloy said. “They played with good sportsmanship despite the other team trying to get into their heads.”

Joe Middlemoore had two tries good for ten points, team captain Jim White had one try and Stephen Populous had a kick that was good for two points.

Rugby is a lot like football but instead of touchdowns, they’re called tries and they’re good for five points.  You also kick the ball from the line in which you just scored your try, which is good for two points.

The game was very physical from the start.

“The game went on for 80 minutes of nonstop hard-hitting fun,” Malloy said. “Each player on the team played to the whistle and gave it their all. Rugby is a game of speed and endurance. It doesn’t matter how tough you are, if you can’t get to the play, then you’re no good.” 

The Ospreys went on to lose to the University of Montana 14-7 in the second game of the day.