Rugby Santos Open 2025 Campaign with Road Win

67-20 Over Aardvarks

February 22, 2025 - DW

The Santa Fe Rugby Club opened the spring portion of their 2024-2025 Rio Grande Rugby Union season with a 67-20 win over Albuquerque’s Aardvarks in Albuquerque on Saturday. The win runs the Santos’ record to three wins versus no losses dating back to autumn 2024.

Veteran coach Richard Morris’s charges patiently worked through off-season rustiness in the opening quarter of the 80-minute contest to take a 26-10 lead into halftime. Power center Leonidas Wilson touched down Santa Fe’s first five-point try after 15 minutes, with flyhalf Milaan Van Wyk adding the two-point conversion kick. Van Wyk, left wing Jason Espana, and hooker Diego Cardiel also scored first-half tries for Santa Fe, with Van Wyk connecting with three conversion attempts. The Aardvarks meanwhile managed two unconverted tries for 10 points.

Van Wyk landed a signature 50 meter penalty kick two minutes into the second stanza, and the Santos pulled away with two tries by Elijah Naranjo, Wilson’s second, and one try each from New Mexico Tech graduate Gabriel Beltran, Mateo Cardiel, and Tadeo Herrera.

Santa Fe next meets El Paso RFC in Socorro on March 8. The Santos beat the Scorpions 40 to 24 in their last meeting on Oct 12 of last year.