Last Saturday, while the majority of the Saint Louis University campus was sleeping, the players on the rugby club were waking up at 5:30 a.m. to get ready for a trip to Nashville. The drive from St. Louis to Nashville is about five hours and the scenery is not much to look at.
The drive to Austin is even more depressing. Two weeks ago, the 26 players on the rugby club traveled thirteen hours in their vans through the inappropriate billboards of Missouri and the red, barren clay of Oklahoma, just to play in one game in Austin, which they won 32-7.
Two weeks into their season, the SLU rugby club stands at 1-1.
“If you’re looking for a way to start a season, this was it,” sophomore Matt Strohm said.
It was a great start indeed-except the start of the season should have been in the fall.
After going undefeated during the spring semester in 2008, expectations were running high for the SLU Rugby Club. Positive results coupled with the experience of seven seniors and talented underclassmen had them thinking that this was the year that SLU could win the union.
In collegiate rugby, teams are categorized into unions. SLU is one of four teams in the Missouri Rugby Football Union-the other teams are Missouri-Rolla, the University of Missouri, and Washington University.
Beyond that, the Missouri Rugby Football Union is one of several members of the regional Western Rugby Football Union.
The goal for SLU coming into this season was to win the Western Rugby Football Union and advance to the USA Rugby Nationals tournament.
But all of these high hopes were nixed in one fatal swoop. A period of disciplinary probation deprived the team of its entire fall schedule.
“It was disheartening. We came into the season full of experience,” Strohm said.
Instead of competing, the team was forced to abandon all games and practices. These measures had ramifications beyond mere frustration.
Last August, several rule changes were implemented by the International Rugby Board. Known as the Experimental law variations, these alterations are designed to speed up the pace of rugby. Since they were banned from practicing, SLU was denied the opportunity to familiarize with these rule changes.
“It’s a changed game now. Not having played with those rules before will hurt us,” sophomore Kelly Mercer said.
The Rugby Club also missed out on the unique social aspects and traditions associated with their sport. On many its road trips, the Club has its lodgings and meals provided for by the hosting Club. Though the games are physical and brutal, the social aspects of Rugby combine for an atmosphere inimitable in collegiate club sports, and the players ached to experience this once again.
This semester, the Club has its fair share of obstacles to overcome. SLU will travel for every game this spring, and they will play twice the standard amount of games. Strohm acknowledges that this will pose a challenge, but is quick to take responsibility for these hindrances.
“It’s our own fault. Either we can fight [the probation], or we can apologize and act on those apologies,” Strohm said. “At first there was a lot of anger. But we came together-all we could do was accept the consequences.”
Last semester, the club tried to make amends for their probation through service. Rugby players participated in Make a Difference Day and volunteered at Chaifetz Arena.
The club also underwent a cosmetic reconstruction, appointing three captains: Travis Dingledire, Brian Howley and Strohm, to lead the team. There is also now a president in charge of the rugby club, which is the oldest such club still in existence at SLU. The current structure of the Rugby Club now is more analogous to a typical sport club at SLU.
The Rugby Club T-shirts for this year say it all: “SLU Rugby ’08, ’09 – a season of redemption.”
Though the probation was unfortunate and still lingers, the team remains optimistic about the forthcoming season.
“Once we were reinstated by the school, we had two-a-day mini camp for three days. I’ve never seen such mental focus in this squad before because of how determined they are to compete again,” Mercer said.
Mercer says that despite the negatives of the probation, he can still see some positive aspects.
“Every game will be played with a chip on our shoulders. Every game will be played with more focus.”
So just as it was in the fall, the goal for the SLU Rugby Club remains the same – to win their union and advance to nationals.
“We have a very rugby- smart side playing with a serious determination of winning our union and winning the west and getting to the national tournament. The most exciting part is knowing that everyone has this determination to be competitive,” Mercer said.
