Shelbie Harris
Staff Writer
The Idaho State University men’s rugby team is off to a slow start this season due to a decline in leadership, coupled with multiple injuries and students graduating.
The overall lack of depth has been the vulnerable Achilles’ heel for the team resulting in a 0-3 start for the Bengals.
“We’re struggling to be honest,” said head coach Robbie Bridge. “We’re dealing with a large leadership vacuum losing about 15 to 20 guys over the last year, year-and-a-half, leaving us with about only two or three juniors and seniors on the squad and the rest are sophomores and freshmen.”
Before entering his senior season as an ISU rugby player Nick Leif was told he could never play rugby again based on the high risk associated with receiving another brain damaging concussion.
The fall 2014 semester marked the end to Leif’s four-year career as an ISU rugby player.
“I had a couple doctors check me out and they recommended that I didn’t play anymore,” Leif said. “I played a little bit more before our coach at the time, Ram [Eddings], decided to pull the plug.
Leif referred to Eddings, the ISU rugby team head coach for 18 years before retiring in 2013, as the Godfather of the rugby team.
Possibly, the loss of Eddings was akin to the Mafia’s loss of Michael Corleone and now it’s simply a matter of rebuilding and developing future leaders for the team.
“We’re struggling and we are getting better but a major factor is turnover,” Bridge said. “We played Utah State recently and we didn’t even have a full side in terms of numbers. Just like any program there are ups and downs.”
When Bridge first joined the team as a player the team struggled to remain competitive, and he said about two-and-a-half years later they were sixth in the nation.
After graduating last semester, Bridge understood the team has the potential to be a top caliber team again which is why he decided to stay in Pocatello and coach.
“I didn’t want to leave the guys when they were down,” Bridge said. “That would be the easy option, we just got to keep working.”
Although rugby is a club team rather than a sanctioned NCAA athletic team there are still tuition waivers and scholarships available to players.
Roughly four to five years ago, ISU men’s rugby was only one of 12 universities in the country that were able to offer these incentives.
Now many universities including competitors such as Boise State and Utah State are offering such benefits to attending students.
A large portion of funding comes from fundraising completed by the members of the rugby team.
“We’re really appreciative of the support from ISU,” said junior rugby athlete Luke Woodward. “We really recognize our fans in the community. This year we’ve been selling hot dogs outside of Hooligans on Monday nights and people have been super receptive in helping us raise funds.”
Rugby is a sport that is quickly growing in popularity in the United States, a combination of wrestling, soccer, American football, and almost any other sport you could think of.
A unique blend of physical toughness and mental capability, playing rugby involves much more than pure athletic talent.
Something different about rugby than any other sport is the camaraderie it creates for both teams involved.
Bridge said after games both teams get together to celebrate which could encompass getting everyone together at a local restaurant or throwing some hot dogs on the grill while players discuss the game from the perspective of both teams.
Rugby as a sport opens athletic doors as it is challenging and unique, social doors with the camaraderie involved and the opportunistic door offering a plethora of options for students to immerse themselves in during or after their collegiate career.
Bridge said the USA Rugby membership is $60 a year and then it’s $65 per semester to be involved on the ISU rugby team, and anyone interested in playing can do so; nobody gets kicked off the team for lack of talent.
“This is a quote from our old coach Ram Eddings,”Bridge said. “He said Rugby is like life. When you get knocked down, you have to get back up. If you don’t, the game will move on without you, just like life.”
