Men’s rugby looks forward to future with young core

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The Occidental Men’s Rugby Team Plays against UC Irvine Men’s Rugby at Occidental College. Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. Audrey Rudolph/The Occidental

The men’s team will be relying on a large group of young players to help carry the team to victories this season.

 

The Occidental men’s rugby team currently stands 1–2 after their 10–31 loss against the University of California, Irvine Feb. 22. They had previously won 57–7 against the University of California, Riverside Feb. 16 and lost 10–14 to Westmont College in their first game of the season Feb. 9. The Tigers had intended to begin the season the week prior with a game against Pepperdine University, but it was canceled due to rain.

Like last season — when many players from Occidental’s football program joined rugby after their Fall 2017 season was canceled — this season sees the men’s rugby team with several players who are fresh to the sport, according to captain Daniel Gittelman-Egan (senior).

“We have a lot of new players. Our first game of the season, 10 of the starting 15 had never played before,” Gittelman-Egan said. “It’s been a pretty steep learning curve for a lot of the guys.”

According to coach Conrad Arjoon, the knowledge and experience of the returning players has been essential in training a team with so many new members.

“Most of the first-timers are footballers that just came to rugby. Some of them haven’t even played any other sport and just came to rugby, and it’s kind of difficult trying to get those guys attuned to rugby and the fundamentals of the game,” Arjoon said. “Thankfully, we have some returning players, some old guys that are really assisting to get those guys up to speed as early as possible.”

Travis Thein (junior) explained how learning the rules of rugby can be challenging for those who have never played the sport before.

“Rugby is a very different game in the sense that you can obviously see how people in America didn’t grow up playing it,” Thein said. “You see a pickup basketball game, and you see that everyone there has been playing for multiple years. Then you come watch a club rugby game, and it just looks like complete chaos.”

Despite this challenge, the newcomers on the men’s rugby team have risen to the occasion, according to the team’s vice president and fly-half Joshua Greaves (junior).

“They’re very hardworking, and they’re very motivated. They’re willing to put in the extra time, the extra effort to become better players,” Greaves said.

Yolbars Myhre (sophomore) said the Tigers, aware of the challenge they face, were cautious but determined heading into the game against Riverside.

“At halftime, Dan gave this very incredible speech,” Myhre said. “Last game [against Westmont], we got too comfortable at the second half, and we lost it. Dan reminded us that it is not over until it’s over.”

Arjoon expressed a similar sentiment, warning not to base the team’s strength on their victory against Riverside.

“I wouldn’t want to use that as a judgment. This coming weekend [Feb. 22], yes, absolutely, because that’s a better team that will come prepared,” Arjoon said. “UC Irvine, they’ve already proven that they have beaten two opponents — and beat them quite handsomely — so that would be a better yardstick to use, coming this weekend, to see how far our boys have really come.”

The Occidental men’s rugby team plays against UC Irvine men’s rugby at Occidental College. Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. Audrey Rudolph/The Occidental

While determined to accumulate more victories, the players on the men’s rugby team are most concerned with acclimating themselves to the sport and honing their skill, according to Myhre.

“Coach always says, ‘It’s not about winning,’” Myhre said. “It’s about improving yourself as a player and doing everything right by yourself, and then, eventually, it adds up to the bigger picture.”

Despite his reservations, Arjoon says he has high hopes for the rest of the season.

“In terms of athleticism and bulk, we have that all,” Arjoon said. “All we have to do is point it in the right direction and make sure we get successes out of it.”

The Tigers will head to Las Vegas at the end of the month to compete in the Las Vegas Invitational, an amateur rugby tournament in which they could qualify for the Collegiate Rugby Championship held in Philadelphia in June.

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