Rugby Club starts its schedule
Cody Downs, a junior forward, runs with the ball among four players of the opposing team. The match on Sept. 21 served as a training opportunity for the players on the Rugby Club team.
To kick off their season, students on the university Rugby Club team faced off against alumni as a way of practice.
The scrimmage took place on Saturday, Sept. 14 at 1 p.m. on the North Oak Park Soccer Field. The university team played against a team comprised mostly of alumni. A couple of students alternated teams throughout the match to equalize the amount of players on each team. Since the game was a scrimmage match, an official score was not kept.
Cole Stevens, a senior eighthman, explained how this first match was a great learning experience for the team.
“All of these old guys, they’ve played for years,” said Stevens. “They’ve got tons of experience to share with us. They can see all the mistakes we’re making and help us out.”
Cody Downs, a junior forward, was on the team last year, but this was his first rugby match to be a part of.
“I’ve played football my whole life, but this is a whole new experience,” shared Downs. “For the most part, I loved it – contact sports are pretty much the same thing. Rules are a little different, but overall, I loved it.”
According to Downs, one of the team’s advantages going into the season is having fast guys as well as larger guys to balance the team’s performance.
Stevens shared his thoughts about looking forward to the remainder of the season.
“We’ve definitely got to communicate a little better,” said Stevens. “We’ve got a lot of new guys on the team this year. A lot of them have never played rugby before, so they just need to learn the game.”
The Rugby Club’s next game will be held on Saturday, Sept. 21 at 1 p.m. on the North Oak Park Soccer Field.
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Jacob Summerville, a history and political science major, has worked at The Lion's Roar since September 2017. A native of Greenwell Springs, LA, Jacob...
Dr Donald Hart, Rugby, SLU • Sep 24, 2019 at 2:58 pm
Mr Summerville: Thank you for your coverage of our alumni match.
In the past our submission of press releases about the rugby team have been met with silence or “What do you want me to do with this?”
We are hoping your participation with the Lion’s Roar will be opening more was of communication.
Do I forward any press releases to your attention?
FYI…This Saturday SLU Rugby had its season opener against ULL at 1pm at the soccer/rugby complex off of Lions Lane and W University Ave.
The team took second in the Deep South Rugby Conference in its first year competing against Tulane, Spring Hill, LA Tech, to name a few.
SLU Rugby took second in the Deep South Tournament and second in the Battleship Tournament in Mobile, Alabama..