The No.15 IU men’s rugby club journeys to Obetz, Ohio to battle, No. 17 Ohio State for the Big Ten Championship on Saturday. Even for a Hoosier team that has played for a conference title four of the last five years, the game hasn’t lost its luster.
“Oh, man, it would mean a hell of a lot,” sophomore forward Gabe Yeoman said. “I’ve put my blood, sweat and tears into this team, into this season. It would mean a lot to win.”
In order to be rewarded for his sacrifices, Yeoman and his comrades will need to overcome an Ohio State squad hungry for revenge. The Hoosiers bested the Buckeyes 27-20 in September at the Battle for the Mitten Invitational.
Since then, Ohio State has embarked on a reign of terror throughout the Big Ten, walloping its opponents by a combined 310-58.
“We know we can’t be complacent with the previous win,” Yeoman said. “Everything’s on the line at this point. The regular season is to get us into this game, and now we’re here so we need to fight to accomplish our goal.”
Head coach Justin Goonan said it is essential that the team remains unphased by the challenge before it.
“No doubt, there is a lot of history in this match,” he said. “We’re certainly aware of that, but at the same time we as a group are not addressing it any differently.”
In order to maintain level heads during an emotional 80 minutes, Goonan said the team competes with itself as much as with the group on the other side of the scrum.
“We are our biggest opponents,” Goonan said. “The guys know that if we’re focused on us, if we’re locked in to our task and our objective, we can put in the performance that we need to regardless of who’s lined up in front of us.”
This mentality stems from the team’s season-long mantra, “What makes you T.I.K.?” T.I.K. stands for tradition, intensity, and Kaizen, a Sino-Japanese word meaning improvement.
“I think that’s exactly how they want to be remembered,” Goonan said. “That they carried on the tradition that has been Indiana rugby, that they brought intensity to every match and every opponent and that they never settled. That they constantly looked to improve upon themselves.”
Yeoman confirmed his coach’s words regarding the team’s legacy.
“I hope to be remembered for the way we play,” he said. “We come out firing, we do what we need to do to win, and we play some damn good rugby doing it.”
