Penn Sports Plus: Men's Rugby

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This week, we sat down with Doug Swift, an England native, and president of the Penn men’s rugby team, who discussed recent successes and the future of the fiercely competitve club sport.

How did you get into rugby?

Swift: So, I’ve been playing rugby since I was five, back in England. I played throughout Lower School, Middle School, and High School. After a gap year, when I realized I was going to come to America, I scouted out some of the schools I was applying to and it was an absolute bonus that Penn had a great program.

Being from England, most of the players that try rugby out in the States are football players or ex-football players. How do their skills translate in the game of Rugby?

Swift: There are certainly skills that do transfer over. But, you'd be surprised Americans are kind of wimpy. The tackle technique is more different than people give it credit for, and the fact that we don’t wear pads means that there is some adjustment. However, especially defensively the skills do transfer over.

So, you guys just played Brown this past weekend. What does your club look to do playing teams like Brown, Cornell, and Dartmouth who are more active in recruiting players?

Swift: I don’t know the specifics of each recruitment process, I’m sure that it is standardized across all club sports, keep in mind, these are still Club teams. But, certainly I know when I got my acceptance letter from Penn, and Billy (the team’s fly-half) as well, got a special letter from the rugby coach saying “we hope that you’ll come out and join the team”. Certainly, our recruitment needs some work.

How did the game turn out?

Swift: The game itself was a real moment of progression for the team. Having gone to Brown last year in the Ivy League and lsot by over 50 points to zip, to have them come here and [Penn] go down by six points is a testament to how far we’ve come in just that short time. And that’s all credit to those who have been working hard. But, yeah, schools like Dartmouth, it will be another year or two before we can compete at their level because of their recruitment capabilities.

What’s the next goal for Penn rugby, specifically, the next big event?

Swift: So having gone down to Brown last weekend, we now play for third place against Princeton, who lost to Dartmouth last weekend which will be this Saturday at Penn Park at three o’ clock. We hope to get a good turnout for that. After that, our 15’s season is over and then we enter the 7’s circuit. We play Nationals, the Collegiate Rugby Championships are June 1st and 2nd. This year they are actually being held at PPL Park in Philadelphia, and we are trying to sell tickets to this spectacular event.

For those who want to be involved, how can they get involved? Do you accept those in all skill levels?

Swift: Absolutely. Yeah, we go into these games with a squad of 22, but there are guys who have been coming out all semester purely for fitness reasons and for whatever reasons they want. They’ve been working hard and working their way into the starting lineup. Hopefully, people will start seeing the flyers we've been putting around campus. Practices are Monday, Wednesday, Friday from 6-8. Anyone can visit our website or Facebook page and get in touch with out recruitment directors and get involved.

Website: http://www.upennrugby.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pennrugby?fref=ts

Next GAME: Saturday @ Penn Park at 3 PM