Injuries are a part of the game and there is nothing you can do to stop them.

Unfortunately for the Penn State men's rugby team, it had too many of those at the Cherry Blossom Tournament last weekend in Washington D.C.

The Ruggers lost both of their flankers. Brett Cowen is out indefinitely, while Brett Ilgen was lost in the second game and couldn't play for the rest of the tournament.

To add to the Ruggers' woes, three players could not make the trip.

At first it seemed that these players were not sorely missed as the Ruggers beat their first opponents, American University 32-0. The Ruggers then played the Coast Guard Academy, winning 22-6. The third game was against Loyola University and the Ruggers squeezed out an overtime victory 12-7.

Such a close game might have been a sign that the replacements were having difficulties.

"We played a lot of younger players in the game," Penn State men's rugby coach Terry Ryland said. "And it was our third game of the weekend."

He also added that the Ruggers might have been looking forward to their next game in the semi-finals against Army, who has been to the final four three of the last four years.

The game against Army was close throughout, even though the Ruggers were playing against an opponent who was much bigger physically. Despite this, the Ruggers were clinging on to the lead with four minutes to go in the game.

But in the end, Navy was not to be denied as it won a lineout, drove the Ruggers back and dived over for the winning try.

The final score was 17-12.

This was the Ruggers second close loss against one of the elite rugby teams this season. The other loss was two weeks ago, when it lost to Navy, another rugby powerhouse, at the MARFU Championships, 15-13.

Ryland said that he did not think that the Ruggers losses against the top-notch teams would have an effect on them.

"The kids did a super job," Ryland said, "considering we had six non-starters playing against Army's first side."

Ruggers captain Kirk Neubauer called the game against Army a "confidence builder that showed that the B-side players could step up."

One of the youngsters who had a great tournament was freshman Dan Chang who Ryland said played "extremely well." But even with great play by the youngsters, the Ruggers were just not themselves, especially the forwards. "Our mauling is not good right now," Neubauer said. "So we are held up and we lose possession."

A reason for this might have been that most of the injuries occurred at the forward's spot and some of the new players, who were plugged in, needed time to adjust.

One thing that the Ruggers learned about itself at the tournament was that it seems to lacks a sense of urgency.

"I think it was typical of us all season," Ryland said. "We started slow instead of having the foot on the gas and we played to the competition."