Courtesy of Zack HillerAmerica is finally catching on to one of the most popular sports in the international athletic sphere: rugby.
And the craze isn’t going away.
At least not at Wash. U.
The Washington University Rugby Football Club was established in 1972 and 35 years later, the club is still going strong.
This year is a particularly strong one for the men’s team, as its numbers have grown in conjunction with its influence in the Missouri Rugby Football Union (MRFU). The team’s divisional matches have included contests against Saint Louis University, University of Missouri-Rolla, and Mizzou. Entering into the second half of the season, the Wash. U. Griffins find themselves trailing Mizzou by just a game in the standings.
An enthusiasm for rugby among Wash. U. men has led to a surge in club members, a vast improvement from only a couple years ago.
“By my sophomore year we were really struggling to get guys out there,” said senior co-captain Matt Owings. “We had practices with less than 10 guys.”
“We would be running around the 40 on Saturday morning, dragging people out of bed,” said senior co-captain Zack Hiller. “Half the team had never met before. We just needed bodies to stand on the field.”
Since a full side for rugby requires 15 players, having such sparse numbers made it difficult for the team to function.
“We had a game when ZBT had their formal, and five of their guys were our starters,” said Owings. “A third of our team was decimated.”
This year however, the struggles to get people out of bed seem to have subsided. The Griffins currently have approximately 35 players on their roster, with about 20 coming out consistently to practices and games. A new approach to recruitment helped start the boom in interest.
“At the beginning of the semester we started practicing on the Swamp,” Hiller explained. “That and just questioning every guy we see.”
“Every time I meet a guy I look at him like, ‘Huh, where would he fit on a rugby field?'” said Owings. “Pretty much every guy I’ve met in the last two years, in the first conversation I’m like, ‘Have you ever thought about playing rugby?'”
Given rugby’s complicated rules and the fact that it is still relatively under the radar as a sport in America, most new players come onto the rugby field not knowing anything about the game. Although there are an increasing number of high school clubs forming, for most rookies college is their first experience with rugby. Despite coming out knowing almost nothing, new rugby players learn quickly.
“For the most part, the best way to teach the new kids rugby is to just throw them in there,” said Hiller. “I have been playing for five years now and most of what I know about rugby I learned in my first game.”
In addition to learning by doing, the veteran-rookie dynamic within the team is important to learning what the game is about.
“Just like any team we make fun of rookies,” said Hiller.
“But everybody kind of takes a rookie under their wing,” said junior Rob Carlson. “You’ve got all the new guys that are coming in and you kind of pick whichever one you like.”
“You pretty much train them in your position,” said Owings.
The increase in team membership has paved the way to success for the Wash. U. men’s rugby team. Despite the team’s objective success, members report that the overall experience of the game is more important than the tallying of actual victories on the field.
“I’m never disappointed if I lose a game, I’m disappointed if I don’t play well,” said Carlson. “It’s more about just how we play, and how well we play together as a team.”
This sense of team unity is an indication of one of the most important parts of rugby: the culture and social aspect.
The off-the-field dimension of the sport of rugby is almost as important to its players as the sport itself. Despite playing an extremely aggressive sport, rugby players are very social and inter-team relations are an important part of the post-game.
After a game, it is usually customary for the home team to “host” the visiting team by taking them out for drinks or a meal and tournaments almost always have Saturday night “socials,” where everyone who played the tournament gets together for a party.
Two weekends ago the Griffins went to New Orleans for a Mardi Gras tournament, an event that is a good example of the more social part of the game.
“It’s a lot of fun,” said Hiller. “We go down for Mardi Gras and happen to play rugby.”
Spending so much time together both on and off the field also leads to long-lasting friendships that extend beyond the rugby club.
“The veterans who know each other, we’ve been playing together for three years now,” said Owings. “We’ve bonded over the last three years. We know each other well and call each other all the time.”