Club Rugby Ready To Rumble

By Tom Schreier

Watching rugby is like observing the cast of "The Expendables" on a field together playing football — without pads.

"It's football without the pass," said senior Joey Murphy, who broke his cheek and orbital bones during his freshman season as a member of Santa Clara's club rugby team. The team is called Santa Clara University Touring Side, or SCUTS, and has been a strong fixture on campus since the 1960s. With no football team at Santa Clara, rugby is the next best alternative for those who are drawn to physical, contact sports.

SCUTS started off the 2012 campaign on Saturday with a 58-15 victory over UC Santa Cruz on Bellomy Field. Junior Nick Johnson along with others in the backline had runs that led to multiple scoring opportunities and 10 tries from the team on the afternoon. Senior Daniel Iritani and junior Nate May each scored multiple tries in the match.

The B-side match was an impressive showing for many first year players as the team defeated Santa Cruz.

One of the signature plays in rugby is called the scrum, in which the two sets of forwards mass together around the ball and struggle to gain possession of it.

"The scrum is the most violent movement in all of sports," said Murphy, of the game's notorious formation.

A scrum consists of eight players, lined up in three rows. Three players are lined in front and four are in back. The eighth man stands alone, ready to pitch the ball to a teammate.

"Everyone needs to be cohesive," said sophomore Tim O'Hara, an All-American who last year played for the Junior World Rugby Trophy in Tbilisi, Ga. "If one guy is not going hard or supporting his own weight, then you're going to lose the whole eight-man scrum."

Murphy plays the position of scrum-half. He quarterbacks  the team and determines which direction the players must go to advance the ball.

In the scrum formation, he stands outside of the two eight-man scrum unions created by both teams and must strategically toss the ball in a place where his teammates are most likely to get it.

The front three players then try to move the ball back to the four players behind them, who will place the ball behind them for the lone man in the back — who will then pass the ball backwards to a teammate.

Rugby is a test of speed, strength and skill, but paramount to the sport is will. It's like goal line football: a test of brute strength and teamwork.

In this game of raw force, SCUTS is determined to be the last team standing this year.

"Our personal goals are really to win the league," said senior Daniel Iritani.

The league consists of Stanford, Sacramento State and Chico State. The surviving team will move on to nationals.

"We will have to work on a few things like tackling, kickoffs and conversions," said Assistant Coach Jone Naquica, part of the new staff that has been ushered in by first-year head coach Paul Keeler.

Organization will also be emphasized.

"We just need to be organized, be vocal," continued Naquica. "We have some good team leaders (and) we need those guys to be talking the whole time on the field."

Senior Ryan Falvey, who was recently named team president, has seen great commitment from his team so far.

"Last night we had players come out for an optional practice for an hour, run by the players, just to get in shape for (an exhibition game)," said Falvey. "When you don't win games, you know it's because you're not putting the extra work in and ultimately that's what the guys want to do: they want to be successful and win."

The cohesiveness carries over off the playing surface as well.

"I'm planning on living with some upperclassmen next year," said freshman Tyson Dethlefsen. "(Rugby) is a lot of respect, a lot of work and it really brings us together."

This sense of camaraderie is heightened through experiences in games and practices.

"When you play rugby you become best friends with these guys," offered Falvey. "For most of us, this is our out-of-classroom activity. This is what we do."

SCUTS opens league play Feb. 17 at 7 p.m. on Buck Shaw Stadium against the defending league champion Stanford Cardinal.

"Last year two teams finished 5-1 and one team won and one team didn't," said Falvey, "so every game is important and, in essence, you have to go undefeated."

The team feels they are capable of doing that this season.

Said Murphy: "We have a brand-new head coach in... from Golden Gate Rugby in San Francisco, and then we have two phenomenal assistant coaches, new uniforms, brand new turf, new posts, all the support from the athletic department and the team has just bought in this year from A side to B side."

Contact Tom Schreier at tschreier@scu.edu or (408) 554-4852.