Squad focuses on fitness in practice

Focusing on fitness, the IU club rugby team’s new coach looks to make his players keep up a stellar season on the pitch.\n“We try and do a lot of fitness work,” head coach Matt Vogler said. “Rugby requires a lot of running, tackling (and) hitting that will take a lot out of you, especially if you are not in shape.”\nSince Vogler has taken over, he said, he has tried to introduce more physical drills that emulate game situations. A lot of the players get to practice early and scrimmage until their coach arrives and the practice begins. \n“(Vogler) has a tough job to do,” said Harry O’Donnell, a senior student on exchange from Australia. “He has to teach the sport while trying to train an A-grade team.”\nAfter sprinting and practicing passes, the team runs what it calls the “four corner drills.” The drills involve four athletes running at each other from four lines. Before colliding they – hopefully – pass or hand off the ball to the runner directly in front.\nAfter the pick and post drills, the team starts its hitting drills. The six-on-six drill is where they practice trying to advance the ball by plowing through the defense much like football, only play is constant and the players are not wearing pads.\n“Well, back home we always say that gridiron players are a bit girly for wearing pads,” O’Donnell said about the physicality of the sport.\nThe club members like that the practices are physical because it’s the nature of the sport.\n“I think the practices prepare us really well for games,” junior Nick Walker said. “In a game you will be sprinting, jogging and getting hit, and games are 80 minutes, so you have to be physically prepared.”\nThe team is a very close-knit one, which, Vogler said, is bound to happen: The team meets three times a week for almost three hours at a time, a lot of the players are in fraternities together and some even played together in high school.\n“The camaraderie of the team is the best part about this sport,” Walker said. “That’s what I love about it.”\nUnder coach Vogler, the team has a 4-1 record this season and is preparing for the next game April 19 against Ball State. The winning record comes as no surprise to the team as it is consistently one of the best three teams in the Midwest. \n“It’s a good sport. It’s growing,” O’Donnell said. “They have a good core group of guys. ... They’re a pretty good team compared to the rest of the teams they face in the Midwest.”