While football is the king of college athletics, it’s important to remember its roots. American football originated from rugby, but the two are very different by today’s standards.”Rugby requires a different kind of athlete than football does,” MSU Mad Dawgs rugby assistant coach Chris Rogers said.
Because of his age, Rogers can no longer play rugby at MSU according to union rules; he plays rugby at the Jackson Men’s Club and aids MSU head coach Randy Pannell.
“Rugby is different because it’s a club sport,” he said. “You can’t coach too fast because you’ll lose players. You can’t coach too slow because of the experienced players who have been with the MSU rugby team for multiple years.”
This year there are 13 returning players and 16 newcomers to the rugby team.
Some of the major players include Ian Broussard, Josh Campbell, Taylor Shaw, David Thomason, Michael Bishoff, Javier Rodriguez, Scotty Smith and Ryan Monroe.
Broussard, a third-year team member, plays the hooker position and is a team leader.
Campbell, a second year member, is the scrum captain, president of the team, lineman and eight man.
Shaw, a third-year member, plays fly half this year. Thomason is a transfer student from California and plays hooker, flanker and scrum half.
Bishoff, another third-year member, is a utility player who Pannell said was experienced in every position and can replace injured players.
Rodriguez, scrum half, has been playing at MSU for only a short time.
“It is an intense workout,” Rodriguez said. “Coach Pannell is a great coach, lending us words of encouragement to help us improve.”
Smith started playing for MSU in the spring, but Pannell is already touting him a key player.
“He will no doubt be a great addition to the team, and will step in as prop position this year,” Pannell said.
Rugby is a challenging contact sport, which makes players susceptible to injury on the field.
Monroe, a second year member, is the team’s treasurer, back captain and inside center. He also has one of the highest injury rates on the team.
“Monroe has been injured several times, but he’s a tough guy. I’ve never seen anyone like him. He is never defeated,” Pannell said.
Rugby is played on a soccer field in a 100-meter by 150-meter area.
The rugby point system is somewhat similar to the point system of football.
A try scores seven points in the try zone like touchdowns score six in the end zone in football.
Penalty kicks in rugby are comparable to field goals in football, but scoring four points per kick.
Many rules of rugby are like no other sport rules.
There is no blocking in rugby because all of the players are behind the possessor of the ball. Also, the team plays until a score is made or the ball goes out of bounds.
Rugby is a two-semester sport with a tournament season in the fall and a regular season during the spring.
Rugby union is played in America while in other countries’ teams play rugby league, which is more comparable to American football.
“Rugby is a team sport with much camaraderie. Any good teams are like families. The MSU rugby team is like a big fraternity,” Rogers said. “Nothing else comes close to rugby. There is rugby; then there is everything else.”
The MSU rugby team will be competing in the Rugby Jamboree against Ole Miss, Southern Miss and Jackson Men’s Club Saturday morning at 10:30 a.m.
The Rugby Jamboree will be held on the MSU rugby pitch field beside Dorman Hall diagonally across from the Hertzer Building.