Rugby, a sport in the American mind frame commonly related to mindless brutes endlessly bashing each other with no preconceived game plan; a sport more connoted with ex-pats and off-field sing-song and beer drinking.
The DU Rugby Football Club seeks to change both misconceptions of the sport. The game is “open format” as Coach Alan Wilson says. The club welcomes back four players who spent the fall studying all around the world; from jaunting around Europe to exploring the jungles of Costa Rica to sailing the South Pacific.
With new worldviews comes a new emphasis to reconstruct the club’s ethos. Beginning after an early exit in the Frontier League playoffs last year, the team has had to reevaluate the factors that tie into success. With the talent gap closing fast in college rugby, things such as team depth and chemistry play an ever-more important role. To be successful and influential, the club must take the technical problem-solving used on the field to accomplish the goal of being a positive impact off the field.
The team has undergone training for a B.O.S.S. certification as well as appeared in its advertisement campaign speaking out against campus sexual assault. A B.O.S.S. certification, which empowers students to “Be aware, Observe the situation, Size up your options, and Speak up and act”, is a part of the Center for Advocacy, Prevention and Empowerment (C.A.P.E.) initiative run out of the Health and Counseling Center on campus. DU Club Rugby believes it is every student’s prerogative to be accountable for the campus safety environment.
Another new venture for the Rugby Club is to become the first sustainable club on campus. By calculating its light usage for practice on Wendt Field, the team will find creative ways to offset the emissions of electricity generation. When spring rolls around, a community beautification project will commence with various ruggers planting trees around the neighborhood and participating in Sunday morning cleanup crews.
To fundraise expensive playoff road trips, the team works home DU men’s hockey games by scrapping the ice during stoppages and intermission. You might also find them working the 50/50 Youth Sports Raffle at various Pepsi Center events. Over the course of the year the team will have completed over 1000 hours of fundraising.
Currently ranked No. 11 in the National Small College Rugby Organization after an undefeated fall regular season, this year’s team must use tactical kicking, smart ball-handling and relentless team defense to defeat opponents presumably bigger, stronger and faster. It is with this idea in mind that DU aims for postseason glory in the spring. Since reconvening from winter break, the team is working hard three days a week to condition themselves for an arduous postseason.
The Rugby Club has been as close as two wins away from the lofty National Championship in 2013 and 2014. Veterans of that run are hungry to return and lift the trophy while newcomers to the club are motivated to put their stamp on the club’s history.
Follow along as this year’s club alters its cultural image while striving to be the best team in the nation.
