It's #1 vs #7 in D1A as Lindenwood travels to Marietta, GA to visit Life, and it's a game that has enormous implications within the Mid-South Conference.

Lindenwood is already in town, having taken an overnight bus ride from Missouri. It's how the Lions like to do things—the players sleep on the bus and then wake up to run an early session on Friday. Then, if they're tired, they can rest up for the game the next day.

Watch Lindenwood vs Life LIVE on FloRugby Saturday Feb 23 at 1pm ET

"It works out really well for us," said head coach Josh Macy. "It's a good system."

Former Lindenwood star Morgan Finlay will help out his alma mater and get them set up at a local gym that he manages, and the Lions are entering this game without any despair from their recent loss to Arkansas State.

Keep The Energy Up

"Against Arkansas State we just didn't play with a lot of energy," said Macy. "There just wasn't a lot of noise from the players. We learned a lot from that game."

Next came Clemson, which Lindenwood beat fairly comfortably, but Macy said Clemson's difficult scrum challenged his squad. They will need that test leading into Life.

Got To Close It Out

Meanwhile, the Running Eagles defeated Arkansas State on FloRugby last week. Head coach Colton Cariaga was moderately pleased with the effort, although he wanted a little more of a clinical approach to the final moments of each half.

"We take pride in how we control play in the ten minutes at the end of the half, and I wasn't happy with how we lost possession in that game," said the coach. "But defensively we were pretty resilient."

Cariaga will rotate some players through, especially in the front row and among the loose forwards, but he is also forced into it with fullback George Phelan picking up an injury against the Red Wolves. But, they get Connor Mooneyham back in the fold, so the rugby gods take away and they giveth.

Maybe now it's a question of what the Lions and the Running Eagles can take away.

Tactics

"Lindenwood is loaded with talent and can make big breaks from almost anywhere," said Cariaga. "They are very smart and will put that ball in behind you if you come up too quickly. They use their kicking game very effectively."

What this will do is either confirm Life as the top dog in the Mid-South, or it could throw the conference into massive questions. If Lindenwood wins, the Lions will be at 4-1, Life and Navy will be at 2-1, and Arkansas State will be 1-1 going into the March 2nd clash with Navy.

There could well be a three-way tie in won-loss record.

What that won't do is make or break any one team's playoff hopes. All of these teams play very tough schedules, and their rankings will reflect that.