The men’s rugby team competes in its second game of the spring season at home on the Miller Fields on Saturday Jan. 29 against Appalachian State University.  The team defeated UNCW 45-3 in its first matchup of the season and look to follow up on a state championship fall season.

The club has not had much difficulty finding players, now putting two full teams on the field at every competition, an A-side and a B-side.  Each team in competition plays fifteen players on the field at a time with five substitution players.

Club president and junior in environmental engineering, Bryan Maxwell said the team has at least 40 people at every practice and if you practice then you get to play in the games.  The team does not host tryouts, anyone that comes out and practices gets to be on the team and no previous experience is necessary.

“The team practices on the IM Fields every Tuesday and Thursday from 5:30-7:30 and all that is required is you bring shorts, cleats and a mouth guard and want to learn and play hard,” Maxwell said.

Jeb Fox a member of team, used club rugby as a way to continue playing the sport he played throughout high school. 

“I played in high school and wanted to keep playing,” Fox, a freshman in chemical engineering, said.  “It’s a good learning experience, veterans always have something new to learn and the young guys get to learn from the vets.”

Maxwell credits the players’ hard work, the organization of the club and the camaraderie of the rugby players for the team’s success.  Each semester young athletes like Jeb Fox come out and compete.  Fox played for the team in the fall and now is a starter on the B-side and a sub on the A-side.

It is customary after the matches for the home team to host the road team for a meal. 

“We always have what are called socials where we hang out at the rugby house and just have a good time,” Fox said.  “A couple of the guys on the team got a house together and that’s usual where the socials are.”

“Sometimes you have a couple poor sports but mostly what happens on the field stays on the field and afterwards you’re all just rugby players,” Maxwell said.

The toughness of the game is what Maxwell believes builds a kinship between the teams. 

“It is a mix between football and soccer. It has the game play of football with the continuity of soccer,” said Maxwell.   “To play 80 continuous minutes hitting and running instead of four or five second bursts is tougher.”

Fox believes that rugby above all else is the toughest sport out there. 

“In my opinion it’s the roughest sport you can play,” said Fox.

The game of Rugby originated in public schools in England in the early 1900’s and has really influenced America’s favorite game, football. 

  “Some guys were playing soccer and a guy picked up the ball and started running with it and the other guys tackled him and they made a sport out of it,” Maxwell said.  “They call it a touchdown in football because when you score in rugby you have to actually touch the ball down in the end zone.” 

As other sports do, rugby creates bonds between people through the efforts of teamwork.  

“I definitely plan on staying on the team for my five years of eligibility and even after,” Fox said. “If I have a job that places me near Raleigh, I will continue with the club because it’s such a good group of friends.”