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Official Site of Robert Morris University Club Sports

Official Site of Robert Morris University Club Sports

Men's Rugby To Be On ESPN+ Tomorrow!

The Domers will take on Slippery Rock in their homecoming game tomorrow night, prizes available to be won by those in attendance!

By: Alexander Gagnon
mens rugby vs slippery rock espn+ preview

Men's Rugby | 10/6/2021 10:51:00 AM

Moon, PA- For the first time in program history, RMU Men's Rugby will be in front of a national audience for their homecoming game against Slippery Rock! The Domers will be hosting their homecoming game at Joe Walton Stadium this Thursday night at 7pm, and the game will be available for viewing on ESPN's streaming platform ESPN+. Students are encouraged to come on out and support the club, and there will be free pizza along with chances to win gift cards to Chick-fil-A, Starbucks, Giant Eagle, and more!  

When asked his feelings on the team being on ESPN+ tomorrow night, Head Coach Shawn Crago said "It's incredibly exciting to have the opportunity, especially with it being the team's homecoming game. We're really looking forward to it". Director of Campus Recreation Armand Buzzelli added, "It's huge for the program and our club sports as a whole, it'll help us showcase what club sports mean to this university". 

RMU's Women's Rugby Head Coach Angela Smarto is also excited for this game, as she'll be making her ESPN broadcast debut. She'll be alongside former Allegheny Rugby Union President and long time radio veteran David Ballarotto as the two commentators for the broadcast. When asked about her making her broadcast debut, she said "I dreamed as a kid about working for ESPN, so to be broadcasting a rugby game with them is surreal. It'll be a lot of fun".

RMU comes into this game with a lot of past success but has been hot and cold recently. RMU enters this game with a record of 1-2, with a 1-1 conference record. They are most recently coming off a 31-17 conference game loss to still undefeated Rio Grande (Ohio), but before that defeated Kenyon College 74-12. Their opening game of the season was a 31-12 loss to IUP, which is important for previewing this game as it is the only mutual opponent these two clubs have had this year.

Slippery Rock enters this game 3-1 with a 3-0 conference record. Despite being undefeated in conference play, two of these three wins came against teams who currently have an 0-3 record. The only win Slippery Rock has against a team with a win this season was against Case Western Reserve University, a narrow 22-19 victory back on September 11th. 

The last time these two teams met, it was in the semifinals of the 2019 Three Rivers Rugby Conference playoffs back when both clubs were still a part of that conference. On home turf in unpleasant weather, the Domers moved on to the finals with a decisive 41-12 victory. They'll be looking to repeat that tomorrow night in front of the ESPN+ audience. So come on out and support the Domers for their homecoming game!
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