ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The No. 18 Central Washington University men's rugby team travels to Tucson, Arizona for a matchup with the No. 14 University of Arizona.
 
MATCH INFORMATION
Saturday, Feb. 1
At Arizona
1:00 p.m. PT (3:00 p.m. MT)
Tucson, Ariz.
 
QUOTABLE
"Could not ask for a better challenge so early on in our season and we will find out a lot about ourselves as Arizona is a well-coached outfit who played some great rugby this past week," CWU Head Coach Todd Thornley said.  "The 23 selected have a big task ahead of them but we learnt a lot out of last year's fixture in playoffs. If we can produce top quality ball to attack off and defend with discipline for long periods of time then we have a chance of knocking the talented home team over. "
 
SCOUTING ARIZONA
Arizona kicked off their 51st season with a statement at Sitton Field against San Diego State, jumping to an early lead en route to a 12-try performance live on Eleven Sports Network. The performance, and the first-of-its-kind television audience kicked off the season in strong fashion, with the 83-5 victory setting a program record for both margin of victory and total points scored in a season opener.
 
The 14th-ranked Wildcats got started with the foot of returning All-American fly-half Robert Figley (24 points), putting the Aztecs in pressure situations and scoring the first points of the season with a third minute penalty. A well-worked piece of attacking play from prop Theo Smith and lock Billy Esposito put wing Joe Sargeant in the left corner just three minutes later, followed by a score from freshman Max Cathala to make it 17-0 in just the first fifteen minutes. Lockdown defense and disciplined, patient attack set a platform for scoring opportunities, as Lucas Bartzis, Figley, Bronson Teles, and Theo Smith each touched down in the 45-point first half. 
 
With a large margin but the season still young, Arizona worked through their patterns in the second half, with Smith scoring his second and fullback Jon Rogers touching down twice in a seven-minute span to seal the emphatic opening victory for the Wildcats. Like many strong teams, the Wildcats' depth was on full display, as reserve fly-half Lucas Agasse's 90-meter kick chase try one of the highlights in the second half.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Wildcats handily defeated Western Washington, 66-3.  Central wasted no time finding the scoreboard as Albert O'Shannessey found the try line in the opening minute. Western responded with a penalty kick in the 5^th minute, but the Wildcats extended their advantage with a try from Diego Damian-Hernandez.  Lewis Hollidge added the conversion on.
 
The Crimson and Black struck again in the 18^th minute, this time with a try from Tommy Schaeffer.  The conversion was tacked on again by Hollidge.  Twelve minutes later, O'Shannessey made his way in for his second try of the afternoon. 

Two minutes after O'Shannessey's second try, Jake Szumski notched his first of two tries.  Szumski's second try came just three minutes after his first.  Central's first half scoring was capped by John Dupree, who scored a try in the opening stanza's final phase.  Hollidge tacked on his fifth conversion of the half.  
 
Szumski and Rhys Jones split the kicking duties in the second half.  Szumski notched one conversion, while Jones added a pair.
 
Cameron Jamison started the scoring in the backend of the fixture, grounding the ball for a try in the 55^th minute.  Schaeffer tacked on his second try in the 70^th minute.  The final try of the contest came from Cam Nelson in the 76^th minute.
 
Central Washington is 3-1 against Arizona since 2017 in all meetings, between both 7's and XV's.  The last time Central and Arizona met, the Crimson and Black fell 28-19.