National Small College Rugby Organization LLC: Latest News: Small Colleges Square Off in Nebraska

Author: DENNIS DRISCOLL Hub Sports Writer

Posted: March 26, 2012 at 12:00 pm

BROKEN BOW — There were plenty of bone-jarring hits, tackles — and at least one bloody nose — at Broken Bow’s Mark Russell Field Sunday afternoon.

The nationally ranked Wayne State rugby program brought its show west, as both the WSC girls and boys teams recorded big wins. The girls grabbed an 82-5 win over Chadron State while the WSC boys tallied a 27-7 victory over the University of Nebraska at Kearney/Tri-City.

This marked one of the first times rugby has visited the area, and it left intriguing impressions of the sport on those who attended. “It was definitely something different, yet interesting,” said spectator Kirk Altig. “From my standpoint, I’m trying to look at it as football because it’s obvious how similar the two sports are. Rugby players are probably tougher than football players, and I’m a football coach.”

The girls contest started first, and there was local flavor as two 2010 Broken Bow High School graduates squared off against each other. Wayne State’s Rebeka Hill and Chadron State’s Aly Leick were excited to see rugby come to their home town.

“Hopefully we showed the fans that girls can hit, too,” Leick said. “Obviously this is Nebraska, and in Nebraska football is king, but I’m confident we put on a good show. We were able to showcase a great sport to Broken Bow and the community. “

“Our No. 1 goal was to come out here and beat Chadron, which we did,” Hill said. “But there was an educational part of playing here. A lot of people don’t know the sport, and the only time anyone can watch it is on TV.”

The hitting in the girls game surprised former Broken Bow principal Mick Patch.

“It didn’t take long to understand rugby is a physical sport,” he said. “I’ve watched the sport on television and I’ve been intrigued. It was great to see the sport live. It’s a combination of football and soccer. The training that takes place must be unbelievable.”

There was a rivalry between Wayne State and UNK in football, which seems just as prevalent in rugby, as WSC and UNK/Tri-City battled it out.

“The first thing that went through my mind was, ‘Wow, they can hit,’” said Hollie Moody. “I sat pretty high up in the bleachers and I could hear the hits. The sound of bone on bone and flesh on flesh is different than the pop of shoulder pads in football.”

The UNK/Tri-City team jumped on the chance to play WSC.

“I went to Wayne and played rugby when I was in college,” said Evan Paitz, a Ravenna native. “I don’t get the opportunity to play against them as much as I want. It’s a great situation, we get to play a great program and I get to play the sport I love.”

Wayne State coach Darrin Barner was thrilled with the turnout and would like to schedule a rugby game in Broken Bow again.

“What a great experience,” he said. “It was obvious the crowd was into it because I could hear the reactions when there was a big hit or a score.”

All three teams are scheduled to play at WSC’s annual March Madness tournament next weekend. The WSC girls open with Notre Dame and the WSC boys battle Northwestern.