After dropping its first match of the season against Northern Iowa, the ISU men’s rugby club has switched its focus to another intrastate rival, the University of Iowa. The two teams will face off at 4:30 p.m. Friday at Iowa City, in a match holding huge playoff implications for both teams.

Although Iowa and Iowa State are classified as Division 1-A teams in all varsity sports, both are considered Division II clubs in collegiate rugby.

Northern Iowa, normally Division 1-AA in varsity sports, is classified as a Division I rugby club. This is because of the history and past successes of the programs.

In most cases, only one team from Iowa is selected to the Division II playoffs, meaning a win on Friday is vital for Iowa State if it wants to keep its postseason hopes alive.

After struggling with its offensive attack against Northern Iowa last Saturday, the club has shaken up the backline in hopes to stir up a little more offense and put a few more points on the board.

“We’ve been having trouble creating speed in our attack, and we’re playing defensively because of it,” said coach Malcolm Robertson.

“We played well on defense against UNI, but we’re hoping that our focus on the backline during practice this week will help us offensively against Iowa,”

The club dropped a close match to Iowa last fall, and did not meet on the field during the spring season.

Although Iowa is a relatively unknown club to Robertson, he knows that the team can be beat and is confident that Iowa State will bring its best to the competition.

“Despite our loss to UNI, the guys are still very optimistic about this game, and I expect them to be extremely fired up to play,” Robertson said.