Rugby club ready for better spring

Although the sport of rugby has maintained its reputation as a game of violence, its popularity here at Penn has continued to rise. The men's rugby club is almost entirely a student-run organization composed of Penn undergraduates. It receives only a small amount of aid from the University and finances itself through player dues and fundraisers. The team organizes spring and fall seasons made up of matches against various schools and also competes in tournaments. There are no organized try-outs, so it is the responsibility of the students themselves to recruit Penn students to ensure the future of the club. In the past, the team has recruited ex-football, basketball and soccer players to fill their ranks. Sophomore Max Barry describes the club as "laid back, but when it comes time for the games we become very intense." The club normally supports enough players to maintain three different skill level teams. The A side is made up of the most experienced and skilled players while the B and C sides consist of less-experienced players. During the fall season the rugby club competes in the Eastern Pacific Rugby Union. The team itself organizes two practices a week and spends one other day running. The match secretary, a position elected by the team, contacts other schools in this division and arranges matches either here at Penn or at other schools. Traditionally the fall season consists of matches against Temple, St. Joseph's, La Salle and Drexel. The winner of this union moves on to other tournaments with the ultimate goal of advancing to nationals. No rugby club at Penn has ever made it that far. The spring season begins a week after spring break ends. The format of the second season is a bit different; matches are arranged against random teams all around the east coast. This season the teams on Penn's schedule are Georgetown, St. Joseph's, West Chester and a local men's club. The team will also compete in a tournament in nearby Media, Pa. At the end of the season there is a major tournament known as the Cherry Blossom in Washington D.C. For Penn, this tournament consists of a series of preliminary matches against other Ivy League schools. The winner of these matches moves on to play in the later rounds. This tournament presents some of the premier rugby clubs and offers a chance for Penn to play some of the nation's best. This year, the team has had to deal with the loss of a number of talented seniors last year to graduation. The result was a rough fall. Barry says this year's squad "is a combination of young players and veterans, and we should probably do as well as we did last year." "The outlook for the spring looks good," club member J.P. Momsen said. "We've got a lot of new bigger guys who are getting more and more comfortable with the game." Whatever the case may be, the Penn men's rugby club continues to maintain its success as one of the most active club sports on campus.