The ISU football team wasn’t the only Cyclone team to fall to the Iowa Hawkeyes this weekend. After a 70-3 loss Friday, the ISU men’s rugby club is using the loss as motivation for the rest of its season.

“It is an unfortunate way to start off the season, but it is something we can bounce back from,” head coach Jon Crosbie said.

“Getting beat by Iowa in any capacity will make anybody mad, but I think it will inspire the team to play better,” said Crosbie, a Daily columnist.

A main factor in the loss was the missing presence of Mark Bokhoven, club president. Bokhoven could not participate because he had to prepare himself to travel to Colorado to try out for an under-23 national rugby team.

“I will have a chance to play for the USA Eagles, which is the top team in the nation,” said Bokhoven, senior in civil engineering.

“I’ll be gone throughout the season playing different games for them.”

The loss of the club vice president, Adam Anderson, who blew out his knee in practice last week, and a few other minor events also affected the team’s performance.

Crosbie said he was not happy with the team’s performance but is not worried about how the rest of the season will unfold.

“The game was not indicative of how we play rugby,” Crosbie said.

“I just want them to play another game and get another week of practice in.”

Crosbie said the team needs to play with more intensity and feels that they will bounce back next week.

The addition of a coach this season will help the team get on track faster. Last spring there wasn’t a coach for the team and practices were hard, Anderson said.

“It was really tough trying to coach practice and be a player at the same time,” Anderson said.

“It’s nice to have eyes from the sidelines and someone with seniority over everybody where he keeps everybody on the same page and keeps the team together.”

The team has a lot of new players this season, but Anderson said that the newcomers are pretty talented.

“I think that we will be a little rusty to start off with,” Anderson said.

“When we get stuff all polished we will be set for the playoffs at the end of October.”

The team is considered undersized, but senior returners will play a big factor in the season.

“We have a good shot at making the D-1 playoffs for sure, ” Bokhoven said. “We have a good group of seniors coming back. A lot of us have been starting for a couple years.”

The team will play Marquette University at 10 a.m. Saturday in Ames.