New club rugby team falls to Georgia Southern

Rugby has now made its way to Georgia College with a new club team being formed this semester.

Last weekend the Bobcat Rugby Club traveled to Statesboro to take on Georgia Southern.

The Bobcat Rugby Club went down 28-26, losing in the final minutes due to missing an extra point conversion, which counts as two points.

Freshman pre-engineering major Kyle Denis began recruiting teammates last semester. Denis and his roommate, freshman pre-engineering major Noel Mankin, shared the interest of rugby and decided to create a team.

“We set up a couple of tables around the fountain to recruit,” Denis said.

TaylorSeay | gcsunade.com

Members of the Georgia College club rugby team practice at the field at West Campus on April 6. The Bobcats lost to Georgia Southern 28-26 on April 9.

“At first, it was tough getting numbers,” Mankin said.

The team now has 20 players, which makes a full team.

“Some are more dedicated than others, but we have a solid 18 players that are willing to travel,” Denis said.

Mankin is the backs captain. Generally, the backline consists of smaller and faster players who can run the ball. Denis is the pack captain, which consists of players that tend to be bigger and stronger than the backs.

The team normally relies on the pack for their strength to fulfill their roles rather than play-making skills.

The team’s coach, Joel Seagraves, was a rugby player for Georgia Southern and is working the team hard.

“He is really whipping us into shape,” Denis said.

The team practices many drills, and rugby requires a lot of training, more intense than wrestling.

The team has played several matches throughout the semester including taking on the Augusta club team, the Valdosta club team, and Macon Love, the Macon club team. The team usually plays six games per semester.

On April 29 and 30, the Bobcat Rugby Club will be traveling to Valdosta to play in a tournament.

The Bobcat Rugby Club has not officially gained club status, but they are looking to in the near future so they can gain funds from the school.

The team practices at a field at West Campus, and they want to make the practice field the official game field for rugby.

Georgia College’s first rugby team debuted in 1993.

“The rugby teams come and go with interest,” said Ken McGill, Department Head of Physics, Chemistry and Astronomy, and faculty advisor of the Bobcat Rugby Club.

The 1993 team lasted on campus until about 1997. Many of the teammates graduated, and some joined the rugby club in Macon.

The Georgia College players of the 1996 rugby team actually got to walk out with the U.S. Olympic Rugby team in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.

Posted by TaylorSeay on Apr 14 2011. Filed under Lead stories, Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.