KJ Makes Minnesota Rugby Debut

Updated

We crushed crosstown rival Concordia 46-5 today (9/28, Sunday). I played Tighthead for the last 60 minutes of the game. Opposing props were folded, spindled, and mutilated; when they subbed in a new guy he screamed during the first scrum. It was worth the penalty the ref called on us for not holding the mark.

The drink up isn't until 9pm. WTF, no "stink & drink"? Ivy joked that these college ruggers have better hygiene than us.

End Update

So I finally found a rugby team out here. A couple of days ago, while I was at Io's swimming lesson I was wandering around the campus of Minnesota State University Moorhead and I saw a guy wearing rugby shorts. I asked him if he played and he replied in the affirmative, so I walked out to the practice field with him and introduced myself to the team's coach/Captain/President, Juan. After a brief conversation Juan invited me to practice the next day.

So yesterday I dug out my kit and went to practice. My plan had been just to lay back and practice; there's nothing more annoying than some new guy showing up and trying to take over like he's God's gift to rugby or something. As it turns out, Juan had to go to class and they needed a little help running practice. I hadn't come prepared to run drills or anything, but after watching what was going on I stepped in and started giving a few tips and pointers.

When it came to my attention that they needed help with spacing and timing their crashes, it seemed obvious that the time was right to introduce Coach Dixon's infamous "Indian Death Run." Amazingly, these kids took to it like ducks to water and couldn't get enough of it.

Right now I'm trying to get together a practice plan for tonight to help get these young bucks ready for Sunday's game with their hated crosstown rival, Concordia College which just happens to be Ivy's alma mater.

Look for the debut of the MSUM Dragons RFC blog, it will be supplementing or replacing their current abortion of a site.