The ASU men's rugby club started its season with a bang, winning three of five matches at last weekend's Pac-10 tournament.
The No. 7-ranked Sun Devils traveled to UCLA with the intent of working on their brand-new offensive attack and found themselves winning three of their first four and improving their ranking to fifth.
ASU (3-2) displayed its new offense early with a 20-17 victory over Washington.
Next, the Sun Devils were outweighed and outscored 25-20 by Oregon State.
"Our forwards played extremely well against the Beavers, considering they were outweighing our forwards by 300 pounds," ASU captain Chris Margrett said.
ASU bounced back after the loss, cruising by USC and Oregon by a combined score of 53-37.
After playing well in the first four matches on Saturday, the Sun Devils were set to face defending national champions Cal.
Five outings in one day was too much for his team to handle, so ASU coach Gary Lane forfeited the final match.
"Everyone wanted to play," Margrett said. "It didn't give a good impression, but we came into the tournament with the mind set that we were preparing for the season."
ASU was still pleased overall with its performance in the tournament, despite not being able to see how the team stacked up against the nation's best.
Much of the early success can be credited to the new style of rugby being taught in Tempe.
Before the start of the season, Lane brought in top-level coaches from Australia to teach the team a modified offensive attack.
"We are trying to stretch the defense across the field and then cut back," Lane said.
Lane believes his self-described "modified offensive system" will only strengthen the Sun Devils' chances in the upcoming season.
"From offense to tackling, the total revamping with pro coaches has changed things in a positive way," Margrett said.
ASU will continue to work on its new offensive game plan in preparation for upcoming opponents. The Sun Devils will travel back to California to take on UC-San Diego at 1 p.m. on Feb. 3.
Reach the reporter at edward.price@asu.edu.
