Raptors poised for 2013 season kickoff

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Published on Thursday, February 28, 2013

Written by Eiden Herring

The Glendale DI Men will officially begin the 2013 spring season this coming Saturday with a friendly match against Boulder RFC. Kickoff will be at 6 p.m. at Infinity Park in the stadium.

“The players have worked hard in the offseason. Each training session [the coaches] can see them getting better and more tuned into rugby,” said Head Coach Andre Snyman. “They’re playing well as a team and we’ll continue to focus on fine tuning Saturday’s game plan.”

While officially listed as a “friendly” match on the books for league and national standings, the Raptors will not take Saturday’s opponents lightly. The upcoming match provides a great opportunity for the team to play cohesively — perfecting timing on plays, learning each other’s playing styles, and continuing the pursuit of perfecting the basics of rugby.

“From a coaching perspective, we’d like to see the guys play to the level we know they’re capable of. We want to see them be successful in doing the things they’ve been coached to do,” Snyman said.

Saturday’s match will also be an opportunity for the team — coaches included — to test players in various positions and see how the overall game plan translates in a real-life situation.

“If something goes wrong, we’ll have the opportunity to correct our mistakes for the following weeks without compromising league points this early in the season,” Snyman said.

The Raptors came out of the offseason with a scrimmage against the University of Utah on Feb. 16, which they won. Their second scrimmage against the University of Colorado was canceled due to weather earlier this week.