In the final match of the 2011/2012 season, the Topeka Rugby Football Club took on union newcomer, Independence Islanders in a very aggressive game on both sides of the ball.  In a game that would turn out to be another loss for the Wizards, it sparked confidence in a team that has been trying to find its way the past couple of seasons.  In a 63-16 final, the Wizards head into the off-season with a lot of work on offense and the continuation of tackling form in order to improve.

The Independence Islanders are a new club that is vying for a spot in the Heart of Midwest Union.  With that said, this was a team stacked with plenty of experience and demonstrated that they will be a force in the Heart.  Topeka knew they were in for a tough game and came out playing with nothing to lose.

Fast play is what the Islanders fed off of all afternoon as they were able to get the ball out of rucks and into their back line to create big overloads consistently.  They also ran the ball hard and had great support.  These factors led to them scoring plenty of trys.

Topeka actually played fairly well, but they couldn't match the speed and experience of the Islanders.  Overall, the Wizards came out with great energy and determination, but more work is needed to become better competition for teams like the Islanders.

Jon Cox gave TRFC plenty of lift with his boot as he kicked for 11 points on the day.   Late in the match, rookie Jake Hibbler scored his second try of the year with another one of his fantastic grubber kicks almost 40 meters for the score.  TFRC had their chances to score trys from time to time, but got bogged down inside the 10 by the Islanders defense on more than one occasion.  Ball movement will be the focus of the summer 7s and conditioning season.  The opportunities are there for the Wizards, the offensive firepower of the team has to step it up when those chances are there.

For the final match of the year, the team wanted to end on a better note, but didn't hang their heads in the loss.  The team understands where they are as a club at this point and are hungry make adjustments and to kick the conditioning up another couple of notches to start earning wins for the 2012/2013 season.

The Wizards will start summer 7s and looks forward to the 15s game against the British Military on June 20th at 7pm.  There is always rugby to be played.  Cheers until next season!