The “final four” of Division III Rugby is approaching and Plymouth State’s Norsemen Rugby Club will be there. Their first game at nationals is against Hamilton College in New York on April 25.
The Norsemen achieved a perfect season this year with an 8-0 record, but this will be their first year at Nationals. If they win against Hamilton, they will play the championship game on April 26 against an undisclosed team, “We’re just trying to focus on Hamilton at the moment,” said Rob Howes, captain of the Norsemen.
As a club sport, the team is self-sustaining. Each player pays $30 a year to register for U.S.A. Rugby. They manage themselves, appoint their own games against other schools, book the referees, order their own jerseys and equipment, report their scores, allot their team budget to PSU, reserve their own van for transportation to games, and schedule their own practices.
This year was the first year they had the privilege of a team coach. It was finally decided that the Norsemen had too many teammates to practice and train simultaneously. The team’s A-side was previously responsible for training the B-side, but while doing so the A-side couldn’t practice for their games, “It got to the point where [Matt] Kennedy and I couldn’t be players on the team anymore because we were always coaching,” Howes said. Thus, Dwayne Mann, a PSU 2005 alumnus, was recruited to coach. Although Mann formerly played for the Norsemen, “Some of the older guys really didn’t respect him because of age and because they used to play with him,” said Howes.The team practices five days a week, though not in the best conditions. Since they are not an official PSU sports team, the Norsemen practice four days a week in the PE Center’s parking lot, “Varsity sports are a priority,” said Howes, which means they get no time inside.
“It’s been tough because we weren’t getting any practice space… and because of really bad weather,” said Stephen Gingerella, a team player. Ideally, rugby is played on grass, but since the fields are snow-covered, the Norsemen have been forced to hit the pavement. For a full-contact sport, that doesn’t help for tackling, “We used to use the wrestling room until we were told we couldn’t use it anymore,” said Howes, but with reasons unknown.
Wednesdays are a treat for the Norsemen, as they travel south to the Rising Stars indoor sports arena in Bedford, N.H. There, they play against the Amoskeag Men’s Rugby Club, a Division I rugby team from Manchester, “Basically we train with them,” said Howes, who pulled the strings together, having friends on the Amoskeag team.
Rugby is a difficult sport to practice, because, like American football, it revolves around plays. But the ball stays in play even after a tackle is made. There are 15 players to a team: eight forwards and seven backs. The forwards are the big, hard hitters, and the backs are the smaller, quicker, fancier players, “The forwards win the game and the backs determine by how much,” Howes said. Only laterals can be thrown; no forward passing. The object of the game is to score tries-similar to football’s touchdowns, but the ball actually has to touch the ground in the end zone to make the points. Each try is worth five points, followed by a goal kick worth two points.
“Rugby football” evolved from soccer, when a player at Rugby School in England angrily picked up the soccer ball in the middle of a game and stormed to the goal line, knocking everyone out of his way. Years later, American football derived from rugby.
Rugby is a very social sport, especially in Plymouth. According to Howes, the best fraternity is a rugby team, and PSU has two rugby houses. The Norsemen socialize with opposing teams after their games, to show good sportsmanship, but they’re always together otherwise. They even have their own formals.
According to Howes, the starting line-up at their first nationals’ game will include Jim Brady, Paul Butler-Garnham, Kevin Cloutier, Nate Fox, Sam Hill, Paul Jackson, Matt Kennedy, Bill Kolaski, Jeremy Lagerval, Chris Lind, Phil Livsey, Kurt Lorden, Tommy Lyle, Tom Mulcahy, Chris Tofte, Aaron Wilkins and himself.