2017 Mizzou Rugby

Missouri finished the fall half of the conference season unbeaten at 4–0. The pick of it was a 17–15 win over Iowa State in Columbia that Corwin rated “one of the best collegiate matches many of us present have ever witnessed” — Nick Romano, J.T. Schlegel and Blake Ollar scoring, and the Cyclones' last kick striking the left upright. A rare December fixture at Stillwater ended 75–0.

The club came into the season off the best postseason run in its history and with thirteen of its fifteen starters back. Senior club president Adam Cooley said the side was chasing a national championship; senior captain James Glavin pointed to the opening conference match, Kansas State in Columbia on September 30, as the one the whole season hung on, with Missouri and the Wildcats expected to be the class of the Heart of America. Coach Don Corwin — who had played for Missouri himself from 1979 to 1983 — rated the squad among the best he had been involved with, singling out its experience rather than its athleticism. The club had moved up to Division I-AA of USA Rugby’s college division in 2010.

The spring began badly and ended in silverware. Kansas won 13–12 in Lawrence in March, mauling over a late try after Missouri had led 12–8. Six weeks later, at the Heart of America sevens championship in Lawrence, Missouri beat Nebraska, Oklahoma State and Kansas in pool play, put out Iowa State in the semi-final and took the title 17–12 over Kansas State — conceding just 22 points across the whole tournament. That earned a trip to the national sevens championship in Denver, where defending champion Lindenwood proved far too strong.