Iowa State’s men’s rugby team kicked off this year’s Heart of America conference action with a 45-0 thrashing of defending champions Missouri.

Three tries from Number 8 Kenny Hall, two from flanker Josh Hall and two more from Aaron Stravers and freshman Griff Huffmon completed the romp.

ISU started the match looking to bounce back from an out-of-conference loss to Illinois last Saturday, but in the early exchanges the Cyclones looked to be on the back foot as Missouri forced the home side to make passing errors.

It wasn’t long, however, before Iowa State began to take control of the match and their pressure was rewarded on 26 minutes with a well-worked try from Kenny Hall. The same player stepped up for the subsequent conversion and the kick was deemed good despite protests from the Missouri players.

With a 7-0 lead, the Cyclones worked to extend their advantage before half-time and managed to do so when outside-center Aaron Stravers showed a great burst of pace to touch down for a second ISU try. Hall was able to convert the kick again to double Iowa State’s lead going into the break.

The second-half started as the first had ended, with Iowa State forcing Missouri further towards their own end of the field. The Cyclones’ unrelenting offense twice broke the visitors’ defense within ten minutes of the restart, with tries from freshmen Griff Huffmon and Hall — his second of the match.

This time Hall failed to make good of his conversions — missing both times in uncharacteristic fashion — and leaving the score at 24-0 in ISU’s favor.

This lapse in concentration seemed to affect Iowa State who, after making a string of substitutions, unintentionally fielded an extra player before quickly realizing the mistake.

The Cyclones had Hall on hand to ride multiple Missouri tackles and score his third try of the match to further extend the host’s lead. On this occasion, Hall made way for substitute Dan Gomez for the conversion, which he confidently made.

As the match came closer to its conclusion, a tiring Missouri side allowed two further tries courtesy of flanker Josh Hall.

The number seven’s powerful running was too much for the visitors, whose lacking number of substitutes showed to be a clear factor in their defeat. Another pair of conversions from the man-of-the-match Kenny Hall finally secured the 45-0 defeat of the defending champions.

When asked about shutting out opposition of Missouri’s caliber, coach Anthony Frein said: “It’s huge. Going forward we’re hoping to win the conference this year – we’ve never won the Heart of America Conference, but this year we’ve got a real chance to do it.”

Iowa State men’s rugby resumes Heart of America Conference action at Nebraska on October 13.