Rugby battles alum
The Nevada rugby team battled an older, familiar foe Saturday at Wolf Pack Park.
The Wolf Pack rugby alum hit the turf to take on the young Nevada team. Former Wolf Pack player Carl Zmaila, who strengthened the tough alum team, felt right at home.
“Rugby is a way of life,” Zmaila said.
The match up was dead even throughout, resulting in a narrow win for the young Wolf Pack rugby team. However, it was the alumni who really put the pressure on and made the Wolf Pack earn every score. The experience of the alums really helped their offensive push, led by Todd Clever and Zmaila. The back-and-forth struggle from both teams led to a very close game, which was fine for Coach Bruce Anderson.
“These guys were really experienced and are very good rugby players,” Anderson said.
The alum game is an annual tradition for the rugby program, which had its own interesting rituals. Each year the current team takes the alum out drinking the night before in an effort to “liven them up.” While the success of the late night plan was unclear during Saturday’s match, a few players were still feeling the effects.
“It’s a tradition,” Nevada rugby player Jesse Carlson said. “We go to the Waldorf and open a tab. Then we bring pitchers to the alum and start talking about old times.”
Carlson said the game is a friendly affair with the older players, but for the rookies it’s a chance to prove something.
“The rookies work hard to show the older guys what they can,” Carlson said. “For the old guys it’s a chance to show the young guys what they are still able to do.”
Coach Anderson knows that there is work that needs to be done for the team to be successful this season.
“The focus this year is to get everyone very fit so they can play at this faster pace,” he said.
Still, alum like Zmaila would like to see the rugby program gain popularity and grow.
“Rugby is the most complete sport; it involves everything from kicking to throwing to tackling. You have to be smart, fit and be able to think on your feet all at once.”
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, October 7th, 2008 at 12:43 am and is filed under Other, Sports.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Print this post
Email this post© 2008 The Nevada Sagebrush
