Football is certainly one of the most physical and toughest sports around. Rugby is very similar to football in that they are both physical and hard hitting sports. But there is one clear difference between the two sports. Rugby players don't wear pads.
It's difficult to find a grittier group of athletes than the Virginia men's rugby club. This weekend, the club will begin its fall 2006 season at the Blue and Gray tournament in Washington, D.C. This weekend's tournament will provide the first test for the men's rugby club this season. They will face teams from Georgetown, Clemson and St. Mary's.
"We want to win the tournament, but the biggest point of this tournament is to come out of it with our A side set," senior captain Zach Mote said. "I want to see what guys step up, play hard and improve themselves. There will be a lot of A side spots won during this tournament."
The men's rugby club has three different teams, an A, a B and a C team. The A team, or "side" as it is more commonly called, is the most competitive of the three teams. It can take an athlete two or three years of dedication to earn a starting spot on the A side.
During the fall 2006 season, the men's rugby team has a number of tough matchups. The team will face clubs from North Carolina, Maryland, Clemson and Tennessee.
"Another difficult game will be against Virginia Tech, because our coach [from last season] left to coach Virginia Tech," Mote said. "We'll be playing against our former coach who knows our tendencies and how we play. It will be a difficult game simply because of the knowledge of our team he possesses."
This weekend's Blue and Gray tournament serves as somewhat of an evaluation process for rugby clubs. The tournament, however, will also feature several strong and competitive clubs. Therefore, it's important for the team to play well during the tournament because they will play a number of teams at the tournament during the rest of the season.
"Depending on how we deal with the ... competition we're going to see, I think it will set the tone for the rest of the season," senior captain Peter Benson said. "I think the way we handle ourselves at this tournament, if positive, will continue for the rest of the season."
The men's rugby team is facing a number of challenges this season. Along with having a number of extremely competitive games, the team must also replace several departed starters from last season.
"We lost a couple of four-year starters which were big losses, but besides them, we are returning a lot," Benson said. "We also lost our coach from last year. Currently we are operating without any sort of coaching staff, which is making things much more difficult."
However, the team is very optimistic about this season. Several veterans are ready to step up and replace the losses sustained last year. As recently as three years ago, the men's rugby club was in Division II. Today, the club participates in the mid-Atlantic region of Division I and finished third in the region last year, just barely missing the national tournament. Given the level of improvement and success the team has had in the past, it is not surprising that expectations are very high this year.
"I expect to win the state championship and to finish no lower than third in the [mid-Atlantic] region," Mote said. "The hope, and it's not an unrealistic hope, is that we finish in the top two in the region so we can go to the national tournament."
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