Life University Athletics

NEW ORLEANS, La. ---- In the first official contest of their season, the Life University club rugby team dominated NOLA 55-17 on the road to move to 1-0.

Head coach Dr. Blake Bradford stated, "We were very happy to get our first game under our the belt. The men worked very hard both on and off the field to make this a reality and also managed to come away with a big win. We showed glimpses of what we were capable of, but we were still rusty in some areas. We managed to put together some good passages of attack and played some gutsy defense. I was very impressed with how the men capitalized on turnovers and our ability to score quickly."

Life U scored early and often after the initial phases of the match. Austin White added the first try 12 minutes in as Sam Cowley slotted the conversion. Minutes later, Zander Van Schalkwyk scored a pair of tries to lead 19-0. Marno Redelinghuys scored in the 19th minute with Cowley adding the conversion. Harley Davidson would add an additional score before the half as Life U led 31-0 at the break.

The second half proved to be no different as the Running Eagles scored four additional tries. Fred Henry-Ajudua, Jeremy Misailegalu and Mateo Freixa each scored as Zander added his second of the match. Duncan Van Schalkwyk added a pair of conversions as well to go along with the three tries from NOLA in the second half.

Bradford continued, "We take a lot of pride in this weekend's effort and the whole squad contributed. We were even able to get some young players valuable game time as we cleared the bench for the end of the game. We look forward to this weekend's game against our undergrad team and we are looking for an improved performance across the board."

The men's club rugby team will return to action this Friday, October 30, as they face the undergrad team here at Life University on Lupo Family Field at 7 PM. Fans can catch the action live on FloRugby here: Life University Undergrad vs Men's Club Rugby