Iowa State came up short in a 22-19 loss to Iowa on Friday night in Ames. The loss was its first of the season, snapping a five-game winning streak.

Iowa grabbed a five-point lead early in the first half and never let go. The slow start by Iowa State due to a lack of team chemistry prevented it from securing a comeback victory against a tough and physical Iowa team.

“We played as a very individual bunch of guys, there was no unity going on,” said ISU coach Malcolm Robertson. “I had 15 guys trying to do their own thing out there and the team knows it.”

The rugby club had a great opportunity to take the lead in the closing minutes of the game after advancing deep into Iowa territory.

“They should have scored a try there, but they were all focused on their own individual game rather than the team game,” Robertson said.

The team entered the game with a lot of confidence after starting the season 5-0 and felt like they beat themselves.

“Iowa didn’t beat us, we beat ourselves,” said team captain Allen Tessmer, senior in marketing. “We came in maybe a little cockier than we should have and this really was a good wake up call. This is what we needed going into conference play in two weeks.”

The focus in practice this week will primarily consist of cleaning up the unforced errors and the lineouts.

“If we can get those mistakes out of the game we’re going to move ahead where we want to,” Robertson said. “I know the potential is in this team, we’ve been working very hard.”

Players on the team are eager to get back on the field, fix the errors and prepare for conference play.

“I think we’re going to put in a good week of practice; we’ll get out there, and we’re going to give it our best,” said Anthony Frein, junior in history and club president. “We’re still a good team, this was a small hiccup and you’re not going to see a team try harder the rest of the season than we are.”

Besides the unforced errors, the rugby club has plenty of positives to build off as they prepare for the Heart of America Conference 7’s tournament next weekend.

“They were making quite a few of their tackles, they were rucking very well and they scrummed very well in the set pieces,” said Robertson. “We’ve got 17 wins and 4 losses dating back to last year. We have forward momentum, and this is not necessarily a bad thing.”