The Revere High School rugby team hopes to have a successful 2015 season despite the relatively small size of this year’s squad.

First year Revere coach Edward Luther mentioned his qualifications and experience as a rugby coach.

“I coached one season at Bowling Green State University, where I handled the C-Side or third string team. Additionally, I have six years of playing experience at the college/mens club level,” Luther said.

Luther also explained the unique challenges rugby offers to coaches and players alike.

“Rugby is a challenging sport to coach because nearly all of your players are new to the sport. As children, we grow up with football, baseball and basketball, but rugby is something completely new. Many people worry about injuries/aspects of the game, but when played correctly, it is no more dangerous than other contact sports. The aspect of learning a new sport from scratch is a little challenging,” Luther said.

Luther brought up the goals for this year’s season, as well as his plans for the team’s continued improvement.

“Our biggest goal as a team is to learn and enjoy the game. Rugby is a new sport to most high school players, so learning to play is going to be our number one goal but having fun is a close second. It is an enjoyable game with a unique culture and we really want our players to enjoy it. As for improvement, we have many new players and a new coaching staff, so this will be a new experience for many of us,” Luther said.

Additionally, Luther talked about how the team is preparing for success in the upcoming season, while working through the loss of veteran players.

“We’ve begun practices at the RHS Gym and Pinnacle Sports Center; these will continue through the season. Practices include a mix of game aspects and conditioning. In this sport, we work more with basics of the game because it is a brand new concept to most of the players. Game pieces such as the ruck, scrum and line-out are usually new terms to most of the players and need to be covered,” Luther said.

Revere junior and team Flanker Brant Hursh shared his favorite aspect of rugby as a veteran member of the team.
“[My best experience] has been overcoming adversity. You are one guy, sure you have a team with you but its mainly just you against the other guy in front of you,” Hursh said.

In addition, Hursh elaborated on how rugby compares to other contact sports such as football.

“I believe you have more opportunities to just show your skills in rugby, because everyone gets a chance to run with the ball,” Hursh said.

Revere senior and team forward Ben Fink also mentioned the differences between rugby and football, as he is a varsity member of both teams.

“[Rugby] is not as political and there are not as many kids on the team. There are not as many practices and the off season is not as demanding, due to the fact that size is not as important as it is in football, it is more conditioning and athleticism,” Fink said.

The rugby team continues to improve with March practices.