UC Davis Rugby

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Season Ends Abruptly Due to Coronavirus

Well, as they say, that is all she wrote. The Aggies season ended unceremoniously this week with their final game against GCU in AZ being cancelled due to concerns about the spread of the Coronavirus.

The Aggies were coming off their best performance of the season on 2/29 with an upset victory over UCSB on Senior Day at Russell Field. The Aggies looked incredibly fit and strong for the full 80, which gave them a 29-22 over the Gauchos.

The Aggies new weightlifting program with members of the NCAA training staff has proven enlightening as the Ags have looked like a different the team the past two weeks. One can only imagine the improvement they will have next year about doing this training all of the upcoming summer and thru the fall (facilities permitting w/Covid 19).

Coach Malpass offered the following as he looked back at the 2020 season: “The Aggies finished 5th in the California Conference ahead of Santa Clara and San Diego, but did slip behind UCSB in the rankings despite having beaten them at home the prior week due to overall schedule. Our season got off to a rough start with the #1 and #3 teams in the nation in 2 of the first 3 weeks. Bumpy! Our new weightlifting program was incredible and we can’t wait to continue with it this summer and next fall.”

Coach continue, “These programs due come at a cost, so as always, fundraising from Alumni is critical, especially with Club Sports libel to take a big hit financially in coming years due to the effects of the pandemic.”

Congratulations are in order for Sam Eddins who was name All Conference at Lock, with honorable mentions going to Tommy O’Brien at Fullback, Ian Slack at Center, and Kevin Brookshire at Scrumhalf. In the off-season, we will be concentrating on our new NCAA workouts, Recruiting, and Fundraising. We will be asking our Alumni to start small with monthly fundraising. More to come in the next couple of months. I would also like to thank my coaching staff for their dedication: Devon Adams, Rick Flynn, and Ethan O’Neill. Thank you men!”