Evin O’Driscoll has suited up for the Mystic River Rugby Club for eight seasons and counting. One moment stands out, and it was not a victory.

Last spring, the Malden-based club traveled to Georgia to take on a squad from Life University. The result was not pretty, an 88-5 thrashing.

“We thought we had been really growing as a club at that point, but that put things in perspective,’’ said O’Driscoll, who plays the inside center position.

“[Coach Josh Smith] wouldn’t let us forget about that match. It always grounded us, even when we started stringing along victories. It made us work harder to get to where we are now.’’

And right now, Mystic River is the national champion, after a 45-33 win over the Austin (Texas) Blacks in the USA Rugby Division 1 title game last Saturday in Glendale, Colo.

At the half, as a result of a slew of errors, Mystic River was staring at a 26-18 deficit.

“It was just a lot of mental lapses,’’ said Smith.

“I told them that if we made [Austin] defend us in the second half, we’d take control.’’

The Monsters of Malden did just that, starting off a 27-7 back stretch with three unanswered tries.

Championship MVP honors went to scrum-half, Alatasi Tupou, a native of American Samoa who contributed 17 points to the victory.

“Alatasi is a playmaker, plain and simple,’’ Smith said.

“He could have no tries and still be the most impactful player on the field.’’

O’Driscoll converted four tries.

“When the chips are down, Evin is always calm and ready to go,’’ Smith said of the Irishman.

“I don’t know if anyone expected four tries, but his effort was to be expected.

“I’ve been with the club since I moved from Ireland in 2008,’’ O’Driscoll added.

“I’m just glad I could give back to a club that’s given so much to me.’’

When the final whistle blew, the players and supporters on hand roared in excitement of the first national championship for Mystic River in 42 years.

But as Smith was quick to note, after a week break, “we start training for the Club 7s tournament’’ in mid-August. Mystic River finished third a year ago.

“Luckily we’ll have mostly the same team,’’ Smith said.

“We finished third in 15s [last year], and look how we fared this time around. We’re not taking anything or anyone for granted, but we’ll be ready.’’

Ethan Schroeder can be reached at ethan.schroeder@globe.com.