Trying to get an edge on their competition, the Jesuit Rugby team has been practicing diligently this year with hopes of winning the state championship this year. Having almost won the state title last year, coming in second place, the Rangers hope to avenge their championship loss.
The Rangers kicked off the competitive season earlier this year with their rugby boot camp, where rugby players spent the entire weekend (1/18-1/20) with their teammates perfecting their skills and coming together as a team.
Head Rugby Coach Mr. Mattachione calls it a “rugby retreat”. They went on a team run on Friday afternoon, and then they worked on skills and were broken up into their positions on Saturday. That night, they went over video from the day and had a team meal. Coach Mattachione believes that these meals help to bring the team together across grade levels because they ask for each athlete to meet someone from a different grade at each meal.
On Sunday morning, they had mass at St. Rita as a team. Then they had a scrimmage, where the coaches split them up into two separate teams and they played a real match.
This boot camp tradition has been going on for six years and has been a success each time.
Assistant Rugby Coach Austin Ryan said that “What’s great about the rugby bootcamp is that it is the time to bring everything [they’ve] learned together to see where people are at, to see what [they] need to improve on going forward and to see what [they] can move on from.” In analyzing the results of the boot camp, Ryan says that the junior class this year is “very strong and experienced,” and that they have the “killer instinct” needed to win.
The team still has their entire season ahead of them. They will have to win games against both school and club teams, a new rule added to the league this year. As far as their biggest competition for winning the state title, Ryan believes that the biggest challenge will be St. Thomas, the team that kept them from the state title last year.
Good luck Rangers!
