The Penn State men's rugby team decisively beat James Madison University Saturday by a score of 43-5. Although they lost, JMU started off the game on the right foot.

"They were very hard and physical," coach Terry Ryland said. "They were aggressive, especially on the forwards. They were very committed to the tackle situation, and they came at us with a lot of people and tried to steal the ball."

Rugger Ian Fisher agreed that JMU was a very physical team.

"They were big and very physical," Fisher said. "They are a dedicated team. They just lack the skill that we seem to have."

Penn State didn't show their skill, however, in the first 20 minutes of the game.

"I think it was due to the fact that we haven't played for something like three months," Fisher said. "We've been playing each other in practice. Also, James Madison had big support there and playing in front of their crowd made it difficult in the first half."

Ryland added that he thought the first half was not what it could have been.

"We could have done better in the first 20 minutes," he said. "As the game went on we got better. I believe that them having more games than us added to their good start."

Ryland said that if it were not for some good defensive stands by his team at the goal line just before halftime, it would have been a close game at the half.

The Ruggers got their act together, though, and came back hard in the second half. They scored just before halftime and then added 24 points in the second half.

"We made good decisions on when to try for the steal," Ryland said. "That's what happened in the second half. We became more aggressive."

Saturday's game gave Ryland a chance to evaluate his team and see some of the new players in an actual game situation. Ryland was impressed with the play of Josh Mitchell and Justin Ingram. He gave the man of the match award to Fisher for "his commitment to rucking in the open field and fighting for the ball."

"I wasn't expecting it at all," Fisher said. "I played as well as I could."

As for Mitchell and Ingram, Fisher had nothing but good things to say.

"Josh and Justin were fantastic," he said. "Both of them and all the new guys are good players. Josh is really quick and Justin has a big physical presence on the team which is something we need."

Besides the new players, Ryland was pleased overall with the play of the entire team.

"I thought it was a good effort," he said. "We played hard. I think our strength was our ability to handle the ball in open space, as we scored several trys in the second half, with multiple people touching the ball. We also had good recognition of when to go to the weakside."

Fisher was happy with his team's effort against JMU as well.

"I think you could call it a workman-like performance," he said. "We were the better team. If we played that same team again, we could probably double the score against them."