Anderson, BYU rugby blast Arkansas State to clinch fourth-straight Varsity Cup final berth

PROVO — BYU wing Joshua Anderson and the backs wanted to make the first 10 minutes of the second half of their Penn Mutual Varsity Cup semifinal the best of the game.

They made a case for it — and Arkansas State would probably agree.

Anderson scored three tries, including a pair on either side of the halftime whistle, and Josh Whippy and Matt Jensen each scored twice to lift BYU rugby past the Red Wolves 68-20 Saturday and into its fourth-straight Varsity Cup final.

“That was the funnest game of the season for us,” said Anderson, whose team will face Cal in two weeks at South Field for the Varsity Cup title. “It was a real good team effort, but our forwards set us a huge platform to play off, and the backs made it happen from there.”

Josh Whippy gave BYU (22-0) a 14-0 lead early with two tries, and his brother, Jared Whippy, tacked on a 17-5 early advantage with a free kick just 24 minutes into the match.

But Arkansas State pulled within 17-8 on a penalty kick at the half-hour mark, and the Wolves looked to take back the momentum on a windy afternoon at South Field.

That’s when Anderson and the backs went to work.

Zane Mendenhall barreled across the line from a scrum in the 35th minute, and Anderson scored his first of the game to give the Cougars a 27-8 halftime advantage.

“We felt they had a little bit of wavering, and we could tell there were areas of the game that we could use. We wanted to get out there and get a couple of tries on the board,” BYU coach David Smyth said. “Halftime came at a good time for them. We felt if we got into them early, we could get a couple of tries and hopefully have the game play out the way it did.”

Alex Vorster dished a pass to Ricky Tu’ihalangingie for a try three minutes into the second half, and Anderson slipped over the line from the edge four minutes later to start the run.

After Matt Jensen scored under the crossbar in the 50th minute, the junior lock added his second to give BYU a 51-8 advantage in the 53rd minute — and the Cougars rolled into their fifth-straight national championship match from there.

But it all started from the forwards, Anderson said.

“A lot of that comes down to our forwards setting the platform and backs that make it happen,” he said, crediting players like Jared Whippy, Luke Mocke and Tua Laei. “They really set us up for success.

“It feels good to play as a team. I thought that was one of the better team efforts we’ve had all season. It was a blast.”

Mocke finished off a fast-break try with a 40-yard sprint for cash in the 70th minute, and Anderson dived in for his third of the game with five minutes remaining to give BYU a 68-15 lead.

“Anderson had a great game today,” Smyth said of the junior wing. “He’s dangerous with the ball. When you give him any space, he’ll hurt you.”

The Cougars will look for their fifth-straight national championship, including fourth-straight under the Varsity Cup banner against Cal on May 7 at South Field. The Golden Bears survived with a 14-13 win over Central Washington in the other semifinal.

“I tell people it gets harder every year, and they look at me and think I’m telling them stories. But it really does; it gets harder every year,” Smyth said. “We all know what we are going to get with Cal. It’s the same thing from them every year. Here we go again; hopefully the nerves last that long and you get through them.”

But what a way to finish off the season, in the top rivalry in collegiate rugby.

“We look at starting last June, until now — all the hard work paid off today to send us to the ’ship,” Anderson said. “We hope for one more victory, to bring it home. It would be our fifth in a row, my third in a row, and we have to thank our families and our support.”

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