Men's rugby loses to rugby national power New Mexico 41-22

The men's rugby program had plenty to celebrate about during the festivities surrounding its first ever Parents' Day -- until its varsity played New Mexico, losing 41-22.

The Wildcats (4-4, 1-1), a team without one scholarship player on roster, fell to the Lobos (11-2), who boast 17 players on scholarship, many from rugby hotbeds such as Paraguay and Uruguay.

"We did not execute very well today, and as a result, we came up deeply in second place," said head coach Dave Sitton.

Though the Wildcats were on the wrong end of the rout, Sitton said he is happy that his team did not quit.

"I think as a coach the first thing I look at, at the end of the day, is that our players never quit," Sitton said.

The Wildcats' were unable to win many line outs on Saturday in a sport where the winning team should traditionally win about 90 percent. Out of 19 during the contest, Arizona won five and missed numerous defensive assignments.

"It is very much like missing 100 percent of your free throws and turning the ball over in a basketball game constantly, the percentages go against you when you give away too much of the possession," Sitton said.

The team needs to make some technical changes and the Wildcats will get better, Sitton said.

"From an experience stand point, as much as losing in front of a very large home crowd of parents, we're hoping that the experience can prove to be instructive for us," Sitton said.

Just like in Arizona's last loss, 41-3 at the hands of Cal Poly a few weeks back, the UA was unable to capitalize on the time they spent on the Lobos' side of the field early on in the match.

Not being able score at all early - the Wildcats were down 15-0 at the half - changed the complexion of the match, said Sitton.

"The biggest problem that Arizona had was that in the first 20 minutes of the game we spent about 18 of it inside their 22 and we could not come up with any points at all," Sitton said.

For the Wildcats, junior Wing Pat Williams had two tries and senior center Joe Schmidt and junior wing Mike McCartney each had one.

"I think everybody played hard but not consistently," Sitton said. "We had some beautiful tries when we did score today, there was a couple of magnificent exchanges and some absolutely gorgeous rugby, but it was too little and too late."

Two of the other three Wildcat rugby teams in action all won, leaving Sitton confident that the day went well and he was happy about the large turnout.

"Parents' day was wonderful. We saw a lot of old friends' parents whose sons had been with us for two to five years, and met some new parents," Sitton said. "I think by-and-by the parents enjoyed it, and we were delighted to host them today."

Next, the Wildcats return to conference play hosting San Diego State Friday afternoon, followed by a match with San Diego on Sunday.