GARRETT ANDERSON | Reporter

Men’s rugby defeated Texas A&M by the score of 33-5 Thursday, which was the third consecutive win since October 2017, when they beat the Aggies 60-5.

Head coach Josh Macy said he brought a younger group of players than previous years to see if they would be disciplined enough to stick to the game plan.

“I was encouraged to see them settle in and commit to our standards,” he said.

With conference play kicking off next week, the Lions look to use the momentum from this win moving forward. Macy said he was pleased with his team’s performance.

“A lot of these guys are putting their hands up for conference matches,” he said.

According to Macy, the main focus was to bring a younger group of players to see how they would play in a tough away match.

Macy said he was impressed by a number of their performances in the win.

“Freshman Reece Botha kept us in the right parts of the field with his kicking,” he said. “He played well for his first match as a Lion.”

Freshman hooker Kayleb O’Donoghue scored twice off the bench.  Andrew Rudd, a freshman wing, said he was pleased that the Lions were able to hold the Aggies to just 5 points.

“We started off slow, but we pulled it together,” he said. ‘It was great watching our defense take over, and we turned that into points.”

The Lions conclude their preseason with a match against the University of Texas in Austin at noon Saturday.