Photo by: Ryan Lumpkin
After a long season, spanning from early September until late April, the DU men’s club rugby team concluded the 2011-2012 season with an alumni game on Saturday, when the club team came away with a 42-30 win.
The team competes in two conferences, the National Small College Rugby Organization (NSCRO) and the Eastern Rockies Rugby Football Union (ERRFU). They finished with a 9-3 overall record after rounding out their spring season with a 3-0 record and the NSCRO conference title.
The team competes against other universities, including Colorado College, Regis University, Western State University, Colorado School of Mines, Colorado Mesa University, Adams State College and Red Rocks Community College. All of these are considered club teams by their respective universities. In Colorado, none of the collegiate rugby teams have varsity status.
“Even though we are not technically a varsity sport, we hold ourselves to the same standard as other student-athletes,” said junior club president Nate Ellert. “Each year we become more competitive and less of a social club.”
Aside from league competition, the team also traveled to Las Vegas, where they were in the Vegas 7s Tournament. They ended up 2-2 in the tournament and only narrowly lost to San Diego State University, one of the top teams there. In the regular season, teams play Union Rugby, in which 15 players are on the field. 7s is a variation that will be added to the 2016 Olympic Games.
The team also participated in the Rocky Mountain Classic in the fall, which they lost to No. 1 Brigham Young University in the semifinals and lost a shot at the national tournament.
“We had a great year this year; we made some big steps towards our ultimate goal of a national championship,” said head coach Allan Wilson.
Wilson has been coaching rugby at DU on-and-off for the past 20 years. In the past three years, it has been his goal to restore Pioneer rugby to the powerhouse it was in the 1960s and 1970s.
“My mentality on this was, ‘If you build it, they will come,'” said Wilson. “I set out to find the best coaches in the state, and I believe I have been successful in that. Now I am more focused on recruiting and making DU the place to be if someone is looking for the best of rugby.”
Many athletes on the current roster have prior experience in sports other than rugby, like football and wrestling. Ellert is an example of this, as he did not pick up rugby until after high school.
“My dad played rugby, and I always wanted to try it, but in high school I was committed to other sports,” said Ellert. “As soon as I got into rugby, I fell in love with it. It’s so much more fast-paced than football, and I like that everyone can touch the ball and play a big role.”
However, as Wilson mentioned, the recruiting is changing in that some players come in as freshmen with lots of prior experience playing competitive rugby.
Danny Buteyn, who was named the team’s Most Valuable Freshman, is one such player.
“Buteyn is a select player from Minnesota and he started at scrum-half for us this year,” said Wilson. “That is incredible for someone who is only a freshman, but he had the necessary experience.”
Other team award winners this season include: Most Valuable Forward, junior Travis Barlock; Most Valuable Back, sophomore Gabe Bram; team MVP, senior Trever Hansen; and MVWrecking Ball, Pete Racenis. The Wrecking Ball Award is a unique award that is earned by the player who “wreaks the most havoc on the field in terms of tackles,” according to Wilson.
After this successful year, Wilson and his coaching staff, which includes Stu Halsall, Cristian Perez-Cobo and Paul Hoskins, are already looking forward to next season. They will start as soon as school resumes in September with fitness training.
“The biggest difference for us this season was our fitness,” said Wilson. “Our skills and patterns of play didn’t change much, but if everyone is fit enough to run at the same speed, it allows us to be a very strong defensive team and that’s what wins championships.”
The team’s ultimate goal next year is a national championship. They also hope to gain even more players through recruitment and participation from current students.
“If you want to play and can last on the field, we welcome you out and want you to play,” said Ellert. “It’s a tough sport, and playing is easier said than done, but you have to love it.”
