Men’s rugby qualifies for sevens nationals

The MSU men’s rugby club has qualified for the National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) Division II Championship tournament. The tournament will take place in Washington, D.C. on April 26 and 27, and will feature 16 of the best Division II rugby sevens teams.

The men’s rugby club participates in sevens in the spring rather than the more traditional style of fifteens, which they do in the fall. The primary differences between sevens and fifteens is the number of players — as the name suggests. The other difference is the shortened time of the match. Sevens consists of two halves of fourteen minutes each, while fifteens has longer halves of 40 minutes each.

This difference leads to a unique style of rugby that the men’s club team has excelled at. “It’s a lot less physical but the cardio load is way, way higher. It’s really just a full out sprint,” Vice President Connor Kelly said. 

Senior Jack Reilly agreed, citing the more free play style of sevens as an advantage for younger players. “We have a few guys who are just super athletic and with less people there’s a lot more room to express yourself. It’s a lot more one-on-one action, so you might not have the most rugby knowledge, but it's pretty simple. Tackle the guy in front of you or get around the guy in front of you,” he said.

That athletic component of sevens proved crucial as the team was battered with injuries early in the season. At one point, only two of the seven usual starters were fit enough to play, forcing the team to lean on more inexperienced depth. “At the beginning of the season it was looking down, our numbers were thin. We had to have a lot of younger guys step up. We didn’t have all the numbers but it was a really tight-knit group,” senior Jordan Moser said.

Reilly believes that the injuries resulted in a more experienced team that will perform better at nationals. “In a way, that benefitted us because it gave a lot of people who usually wouldn’t get a ton of minutes time to get in and familiar with our system. We didn’t have the best showing at the beginning of the season but as it went on we built a lot of depth, so as the first side players returned we had a really much stronger program overall,” he said.

The injuries early in the season led the team to play without a weight of expectation, and even on the final day of the regular season, it was unclear if the team would qualify for the national tournament. 

“We thought we were out of it when we lost to Colorado State and then through some circumstances we got to play Colorado Mesa. Reilly said, “That game was an absolute battle. They tied it up right at the end, zero on the clock. We went to overtime, and that also went to zero.” The Bobcats went on to win that game in double overtime in front of one of the largest crowds the club has drawn.

The older members of the team are no stranger to sevens nationals with MSU finishing ninth place out of 16 teams the last four times the club has qualified. “The last four times this club has qualified for sevens nationals, we’ve won the consolation bracket, so ninth place. I would say our biggest goal is just to break that top eight,” Kelly said.

The club relies on donations from the Bozeman community as well as various sponsorships with local businesses to help offset the cost of travel and accommodations. The team currently has a GoFundMe, which can be found on their Instagram page, 

@montanastaterugby.

“It’s super important. It’s really critical,” Reilly said of the club’s relationship with the community. “If we didn’t have those relationships and fundraising then we wouldn’t be heading to D.C.”