At the end of January, the Blue Jay rugby team took on the mighty Woodlands Rugby Club (Houston) at the NOLA Gold Rugby stadium. The Woodlands are a perennial contender for the Texas state cup and boast several international players.

The Woodlands took early control using the clever and accurate foot of their Argentinian flyhalf, who continually found the Jays cover defense lacking with deep kicks into Jays’ territory. The Woodlands quickly capitalized when their powerful Australian 8-man barreled over the Jay’s tryline to take an early 7-0 lead. The next ten minutes of play saw the Woodlands applying constant pressure in the breakdown. The Jays could not handle the pressure, and soon yielded another try, which increased the Woodland’s lead to 12-0.

But then something clicked. The Jays used a series of driving mauls to frustrate the Woodlands. A blistering run by senior Jack Besh split the Woodland’s defense, and, just before finally being brought down, offloaded to senior Johnny Tindall. Tindall toppled several Woodland defenders on his way to the tryline for the Jays’ first score, which closed the gap to 12-5. The second half saw the Jays now constantly pressuring the Woodlands, particularly in the lineout. Senior Cole Roy was a revelation at hooker: his throws were straight and true all match, which allowed the Jays to both maul and spin wide at will. Senior Langston Goldenberg used his extensive reach to dominate the Woodlands’ attempts at lineouts, stealing or disrupting nearly every throw. But perhaps most impressively, Besh was the unstoppable man, using a combination of speed, power, and cutting to split the Woodland’s defense time-and-again. Besh eventually scored the Jays second try (and was later awarded man-of-the-match honors). Sophomore Mason Mafuez hit the conversion, to equal the score, 12-12. The Jays continued to pressure the Woodlands and nearly scored a winning try in the final minutes but were denied by a handling error. The match ended 12-12. Both teams locked arms after the match and walked, together, to the bleachers to cheer on the parents and fans who came to watch them.

Through the Lens…

View the Jesuit vs. Woodlands RC Photo Gallery

Senior Jack Besh shows how he cannot be stopped against the Woodlands Rugby Club. Besh was awarded man-of-the-match honors

Read More…

Goff Rugby Report – Jesuit NOLA and Woodlands Battle To A Tie

On the Horizon…

This weekend, the Jays travel to great rugby city of Philadelphia, to take on fellow Jesuit school, St. Joseph’s Prep, the top rugby program in Pennsylvania.