Men’s rugby rucks again

By Dave James
Contributing Writer

Midway through the Bison men’s club rugby match against Susquehanna on Saturday, Andrew Litzenberger ’09 ran onto the field, taking off his shirt on the way.

Litzenberger met a teammate on the field and proceeded to trade shirts, donning one of the team’s 14 jerseys, and jumped into the game.

The process continued throughout the game, as the coach rotated players as well as jerseys (and one Canadian club team jersey that happened to be the same color).

But the resurgent men’s club rugby team couldn’t ask for a better situation.

After nearly a year’s worth of effort to successfully restart the program, the team was finishing up a solid 2-2 fall season. The squad is five times the size of the spring semester team. It has a new official coach.

“It’s great to see how far the team has come since last winter,” Litzenberger said.

The team had a rough start to the season, losing to Division II York University 8-58, but the team quickly bounced back with a win against second-ranked Division III Widener University, 36-24. On Saturday, Oct. 7, the team ran up against a solid top-ranked Penn State Berks, losing 13-18.

On Saturday the team jumped to a 12-0 lead over Susquehanna in the first half and continued its domination quickly, scoring three minutes into the second half, followed about two minutes later by another score.

Susquehanna picked up its defense, holding off the Orange and Blue for the next 15 minutes. The Bison broke through again, scoring two more touchdowns and holding Susquehanna scoreless the entire game.

With a crowd of about 100, the team finished up the match, scoring two more times, grabbing a 36-0 victory.

“We’re improving every game,” British exchange student Chris Temple ’08 said. Temple, a hooker on the team and a club player at Nottingham University, was impressed with the team’s improvement.

“Today was our best game; it was a good all around performance,” Temple said.

The win capped off a fall season that saw a team go from the verge of collapse less then a year ago to a team competing against and beating a top Division III competitor (even if the players still had to trade jerseys).

John Hardt, director of athletics & recreation, attributes the club rugby program’s disintegration during the fall semester of 2005 to various internal challenges such as a lack of members, cancellation of competitions and a lack of a certified coach.

“Students in the club recognized that it needed to be restructured in order for the club to be successful,” Hardt said.

That winter, Mike Houlihan ’09 and Litzenberger contacted Joe Santorine in the Recreation Services Office and began to restructure the program.

“Mike and I basically knew a bunch of people who wanted to play rugby,” Litzenberger said. “[But] the real reason the team restarted so well boils down to the love and dedication to the sport by the team members.”

Over 90 percent of the squad was first-year students, unaware of the rules of the game and without any playing experience.

“But they soon figured out that it is the greatest sport in existence, and stuck with it,” Litzenberger said.

After working with the school and the Eastern Pennsylvania Rugby Union (EPRU), Houlihan and Litzenberger organized the first team practice, well aware that an unsuccessful restarting of the program would lead to a collapse of the program for at least four years.

The first team practice was held midway through the winter. Five players showed up.

Houlihan and Litzenberger quickly organized an interest meeting, attracting a few more players, but were still far from sporting a full team. News of the team spread through word of mouth as much as possible.

“It was unclear up to the day that we played how many guys were actually ready and willing to play,” Houlihan said.

With the help of the women’s club rugby team, the men’s team learned the rugby basics, including the immensely important, complex process of scrumming.

“Without their help, getting off the ground would have been a much more difficult process,” Houlihan said.

In late March the team faced Division II Bloomsburg in its first match. The Bison found themselves out-classed—most players had never played in an official rugby game before—and was handed a heavy 0-48 loss.

“It was a learning experience,” Litzenberger said.

Despite the loss, the team enjoyed the game and kept the program alive. Houlihan praised members of that first squad.

“They were willing to work to get all their friends to come out and stayed passionate about playing. [That] was what really saved the program,” Houlihan said.

Since last spring, the team has quickly grown into a 26-member squad, picking up 16 rookies this year. Players range from former varsity football players and track and field runners to former high school football, soccer and wrestling stars and nearly every sort of athlete in between.

“Rugby is the sport for any level of sportsperson—beginner though veteran, uncoordinated through athlete,” Head Coach Michael Ingoldsby said. “Wrestlers, lacrosse and football players make good rugby players; also, soccer players pick it up very quickly.”

The rookies in particular, Houlihan said, have made an enormous impact on the team.

“The players from the class of 2010 are enthusiastic and have showed as much dedication and team spirit as any other member of the team,” Houlihan said. “They really deserve a lot of credit to making the team work.”

It has been the addition of Ingoldsby that has made the largest impression on the team this fall.

Early this fall semester, Houlihan met Carrie Ingoldsby, an Activities and Campus Events advisor and the women’s rugby team coach, and found out her husband, Ingoldsby, is an avid rugby player. Houlihan quickly e-mailed Ingoldsby and offered him the coaching position, which he accepted.

Ingoldsby, born in Ireland, brought over 16 years of rugby experience to the team and immediately helped provide some of the structure the team was missing.

“Ingoldsby was a big, value-added addition to the club,” Hardt said. “He is an experienced and certified rugby coach, and his coaching experience was really able to facilitate the growth and success of the rugby club.”

“The team took on the new coach very quickly,” Litzenberger said. “He has really pulled the team together and improved the quality of our game drastically. We all respect him not only because he’s dedicating his time to coach us, but also because he can hold his own on the rugby pitch.”

Midway through the second half of the Susquehanna game, Ingoldsby showed just how well he could hold his own on the pitch, subbing himself in to loud cheers from the crowd.

Like the previous three games, the game against Susquehanna was a “friendly,” unofficial match which allowed for more liberal substitutions.

In terms of next semester and gaining full status in the EPRU, Ingoldsby and the team have already started looking ahead.

“Right now we’re trying to get organized, get more guys out here,” Ingoldsby said. “My expectations for next semester are for us to keep building and progressing as individuals and as a team. I would love to have strong competition for places all throughout the team.”

The team, Hardt said, will be allowed to apply for full membership into the EPRU this spring and gain full membership status next fall. The team, in the scheduling process for games next semester, is hoping to play between six and eight matches this spring.

“The guys are very receptive, they want to try their hardest,” Ingoldsby said. “They have a lot of heart, a lot drive.”

As for the jersey trading? The players are in luck: the team ordered enough new jerseys for the entire squad for the spring.