Halftime might only be 10 to 15 minutes long, but for the Penn State men's rugby team, that break made all the difference in this weekend's game against the Princeton Tigers.

After a long trip to get to Princeton, N.J., and having only 20 minutes to warm-up instead of the usual 45 minutes, the Ruggers looked sluggish in the first half.

"We came out really lethargic," scrumhalf Mike Petri said. "It was almost like we were going through the motions."

The halftime score was 13-9 to the Ruggers but it had been a difficult half as the Tigers showed more zest in getting after the ball, by turning the Ruggers over in the rucks and being first to the breakdowns.

"They were getting to the rucks better and getting multiple possessions," Penn State backs coach Terry Ryland said.

After a halftime pep talk, the Ruggers came into the second half looking like a different team, scoring 27 straight points to win the game 40-9. This was their fifth consecutive win of this season.

Part of the reason for the Ruggers' sluggish play in the first half could be explained by them using a rotation of 13 forwards. But they also said that the referees' disgression was another limiting factor.

"I felt like we dominated the game from the beginning but we got penalized over and over again which put us on the backfoot," fullback Dominic Mara said.

Mara was the leading try scorer with three and backs Mike Sell and Justin Hundley each had one a piece. But man-of-the-match went to forward Andrew Curwin.

"He was all over the field looking for work to do all day," Ryland said.

Overall the Ruggers were happy with their performance but feel that the forward play has to improve.

On the otherhand, the backline seems to have gelled and showed against Princeton that when given quick ball, they are a force to be reckoned with.

With five wins in five games this season, the Ruggers are on a roll and are brimming with confidence as they approach their toughest game so far this season this week against Trinity of Ireland.