The biggest secret on Grounds is not Coach Groh's pre-preseason favorite for starting quarterback, it's not Virginia wrestler Scott Moore's invincibility on the mat and it's not even the mysterious reasoning behind Pete Gillen's offensive schemes. The biggest secret at the University is senior Rugby club team captain Tom Sanders, who is currently playing for United States Eagles Sevens rugby team.
Imagine, which may not be too difficult for some, that you play a club sport at the University. You practice often, work hard, occasionally travel and mostly play in front of sparse crowds often comprised of friends and family, rarely reaching triple digits. After the game, it's back to life as usual. You might run to the Corner for a quick meal with your teammates and then head to the library or out to a party, but you're once again just another Cavalier.
Then, suddenly, you are in a foreign land playing the same sport, which garnered so little interest back home, in front of thousands of screaming fans. You are now wearing the colors of your country and playing for its respect. Only at this point can you have an inkling of what the past month has been like for Sanders.
"We have 50 [fans at home] if we're lucky," Sanders said. "In Wellington [New Zealand] it was 30,000 people a day and we had a parade the day before the tournament started. Team USA, we sat on a float and we went through town. The streets are packed full of people just looking at rugby players and cheering for us. It was a big change. It was totally awesome, people asking for your autograph. I mean, that's just ridiculous."
Sanders played football and soccer growing up and only started playing rugby his senior year of high school when a buddy from South Africa suggested he give it a try. When he arrived at the University, Sanders said he joined the club rugby team because, frankly, "It was the only sport I could play."
After his freshman year, Sanders joined a summer team, the Maryland Exiles Sevens Rugby Club, a move that would ultimately lead to his breakthrough on the national scene.
The Exiles Sevens team plays seven on seven matches, an altered form of the more traditional 15 on 15 game the Virginia club team plays.
"In sevens the games are 15 minutes long -- it's real quick -- there are no stoppages," Sanders said. "It's like playing three on three full-court basketball. There's constant movement. Something is always happening. It's real fun to watch."
In August 2002, the Exiles earned a trip to Philadelphia to participate in the National Club Championships. Coming in with low expectations, the team upset some of the country's top clubs before losing in the finals.
With a strong performance in Philadelphia, Sanders was invited to San Diego to participate in the National Team Camp. After three days of fitness tests, drills and scrimmages, Sanders was offered a spot on the national team but decided he could not afford to miss two weeks of school. Fortunately, new U.S. team head coach Mike Coyner invited Tom to join the team again this year.
"I couldn't go because last year I was taking pre-med classes," Sanders said. "I just couldn't afford to skip two weeks of school and so I had to say no, but they got a new coach and luckily he called me up and asked me if I wanted to go on this trip. I'm a fourth year in the spring so I said hell yeah."
The Eagles recently returned to the United States from the world rugby tour in Wellington where the team won its final two matches to finish 13th and win the shield. Sanders earned a starting spot in the last three games of the tournament and scored three tries. This past weekend in Los Angeles marked the first ever world rugby event held on U.S. soil. With over 10,000 fans attending each match, the fanfare associated with rugby internationally may not be too far from home.
"With sevens it's really easy to catch on to, I think that's how the game is going to get people really interested," Sanders said. "It's quick, people can follow it and it's only going to go up from here."
With the International Olympic Committee looking to add sevens rugby to the 2012 games, this fast paced, hard hitting sport may be just intense enough to succeed where other foreign sports have failed.
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