The Rugby Club of Mississippi State fielded the most successful team in its history this spring, sweeping through the Eastern matrix and qualifying for the Southern regionals of the National Small College Rugby Organization.”In 31 years we’ve never gotten this far,” coach Randy Pannell said. “We were projected to finish last in the conference this year, but a few of the guys really stepped up this year.”
The Eastern matrix, in which State’s team plays, includes Southern Mississippi, Alabama, West Florida and Louisiana Tech.
MSU went 11-0 in matrix play, including a win at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette in the matrix championship game. At regionals, MSU dropped a 22-10 decision to Lee University from Cleveland, Tenn.
The MSU rugby team featured 22 players, including two grad students and six freshmen this year.
“We have a lot of experienced players who have done it for a while, and a bunch of young guys who have just started,”
Pannell said.
To the casual observer, rugby is a game a lot like football, but there are major differenes, though, as Pannell said.
“Football is a game of inches, but rugby is a game of possession,” Pannell said. “You can let a guy pick up a yard or two if it results in your team getting the ball.”
Pannell said MSU Rugby’s success this season was based on the addition of two other experienced coaches and the team committing to working in the off-season.
“The team does conditioning on its own now. After last season we had a group of core leaders who committed to making rugby a priority,” Pannell said. “It is second only to school for these guys.”
Junior agriculture business major David Tomasin echoed the coach’s sentiments.
“The program really stepped up a lot this year,” Tomasin said. “They came together last year and wanted to do something good this season.”
Tomasin is one of few MSU players who have played rugby before joining the team, having transferred from Division I Sacramento State in the fall.
Tomasin serves as the team’s scrum-half, an on the field leader not unlike the quarterback in football or point guard in basketball.
“The scrum-half controls the pace and structure of the game,” Tomasin said. “Most times when you are moving down the field, the scrum-half will touch the ball.” Other positions include fullback, wing, and hookers.
Comparing the differences between MSU’s team and the Division I teams, Tomasin said that it is all about funding.
“The athletes in Mississippi are as good or better than in California, but those schools get more money from the school,” Tomasin said.
Pannell said he agreed and thinks more students should try rugby.
“Finding new players seemed to be an insurmountable challenge, especially without a funded recruiting program,” Pannell said. “I literally approached young men on campus that I thought would make good players and asked them to just come out and try rugby.”
“There are a lot of ex-football players,” said freshman secondary education major Allan Rowe, who played his first season for MSU this year. “I was a center in high school,” he said.
He also expressed his commitment to work hard for the team.
“Most of the games we play are won by the team in better shape, but its a lot of fun,” Rowe said.
“It is football at a faster pace,” Pannell said. “A lot of our players are former football players with an aggressive attitude. A lot of guys say ‘I’m just not big enough’ but if you are aggressive there is a place on the team for you.”
Rowe and Tomasin both said the best part of the season was becoming a team and meeting new people.
They also invite other students to come try rugby next year. “It is a lot of fun, Rowe said. “After the games both teams go out and eat and hang out.”
Tomasin said the team’s motto invoked Shakespeare’s St. Crispin’s Day Speech in Henry V. That motto is “For he who bleeds with me today will be my brother.”
The team has finished play during the school year, but plans to play in a seven-on-seven league during the summer to keep in shape.