The library is not the place one would expect to find the Loyola rugby team.

But that’s exactly where practice was Monday when poor conditions forced the team off its practice field – ‘pitch’ in rugby lingo – the Res. Quad.

Instead of working on its game, the team retreated to the second floor of the Monroe Library to watch a film of a professional match between England and Australia.

As the team observed the contest, coach Sam Farnet pointed out strategies that the two teams employed and how the team could learn from the professionals.

The players paid close attention and became excited when England performed a successful maul, a play in which the team with the ball pushes its forward in a pileup down the field while preventing the opposition from tackling the forward.

“I was very surprised they were able to do that,” said Tom Lodes, English sophomore and co-captain. “It’s hard to do a maul, and I had never seen anybody do one that long in a professional game. England pushed the ball more than half the field.”

YOU BETTER RECOGNIZE

Yes, Loyola does have a rugby team, and it’s starting to get recognized.

“I don’t think we were taken seriously by the school until last year, when SGA gave us money for new equipment in the budget allocations,” Lodes said. “Also, we had seven freshmen last year join the team who had played in high school. That gave the team a boost.”

According to Mark Duvall, history sophomore and co-captain, the rugby team had trouble gaining momentum.

“It’s kind of sad,” he said. “There are a lot of kids at Loyola who are athletic and don’t hear about it (the rugby team). We only had six or seven new guys this year; and in past years, there hasn’t been a lot of commitment. If students don’t know about it and there’s no commitment, it’s hard to have a very good team.”

Twenty-five players, many of whom played in high school, are on the team this year.

“Now we look like a team,” Lodes said.

A MESHING DOMINANCE

Recently, the team placed second in the first annual Cajun Cup, a tournament that included three Tulane teams, Loyola, and UNO.

The team lost the championship to Tulane’s ‘A’ team but defeated Tulane Med, which Lodes described as a “big win for us.”

Loyola will next test its mettle in the Deep South Rugby Tournament next weekend in Gretna.

“The team is pretty good,” Duvall said. “Our first game was not good, but we were much better in our next few games. We can be even better if we come together at practice.”

Duvall said that he, Lodes and biology sophomore Brian Hess all played on the same high school team in St. Louis before they enrolled at Loyola.

“It’s pretty nice. We all kind of play the same position,” he said. “We’re in sync with each other, because we’ve been friends and playing together for a long time. I’ve been friends with Brian since I was five, and Tom is my best friend now.”

Besides playing with old friends, Lodes said that he has made new ones while playing at Loyola that he otherwise wouldn’t have made.

“We have every fraternity represented on this team,” he said. “We’ve become half rugby team, half social group.”

Adding to the team’s successful building process, Farnet has become the team’s unofficial coach. When the previous coach left to fulfill other commitments, he, as the assistant, decided to stay and help the team grow.

“He’s done a great job,” Lodes said. “He has really helped us out. It’s difficult to run a team as students and tell your peers what to do, especially when they are on the same talent level.”

In agreement with Duvall and Lodes, Farnet said the team has the potential to be something special.

“Having players who played in high school is nice to see,” he said. “The fellows in charge have really matured and gotten more serious this year about the game. We have a young team that will be very competitive.”

“As it stands right now, we’re becoming well-respected, because we are smaller than all the other teams,” Lodes added. “We still beat many of them and give the other ones good games.”

A GAME OF PHYSICAL TRADITION

An old rugby slogan says: “A game for ruffians, played by gentlemen.”

“Rugby is a combo of football and soccer,” Lodes said. “It’s just as physical as football and just as constant as soccer. The clock never stops, and you just keep going.”

With all the physical conflict that takes place in the game, one would not suspect that sportsmanship is just as important. But it is.

The referee is referred to as ‘sir.’ Before each game, each team honors the referee and the opposition in song. When a game is over, the home team invites the visitors to join them in drinking a keg.

A time-honored tradition of the sport is the one of the Zulu Warrior. When a rookie scores his first ‘try,’ rugby for touchdown, the rest of the team takes him out and sings the song of Zulu for him.

But the rookie has his own task to complete – he must run around naked.

“We’ve all Zulued,” Lodes said.

No matter what happens during the game, everyone is respectful to each other afterward. Even if two opponents engage in a fistfight on the pitch, they embrace at the game’s conclusion and have a drink together.

Rugby, like soccer, traces its roots back to English boarding schools.

“I’ve heard that rugby first started when one of the fat kids in England couldn’t keep up with soccer,” Farnet said. “So, he grabbed the ball and started running with it. All the other kids tackled him. That is how rugby was born.”

CRITICAL POINT

Victor Holcombe, communications junior, recently joined the team, and he said he is glad he made the move.

“I just started, but all I know is there are a lot of guys this tall (places his hand in front of his chest) that hit really hard,” he said. “My friend told me to come out to practice. I did and liked it. Rugby is a lot rougher than football, because there are no pads.”

With a core of sophomores leading the way for the Wolfpack, the future looks promising.

“We’re doing only good things right now, however, the team is at a critical point,” Lodes said. “We can balloon to be a dominant team in the Deep South. We’re getting talent, funding and coaching. (But) you can’t really tell what will happen in this transitional period.”

Lodes encourages any student who is interested in rugby to join the team.

“It is by far the most enjoyable organization I’ve found at Loyola,” Lodes said. “There are no tryouts. Everyone can come out. Everyone will be respected and get playing time.”

The team practices in the Res. Quad on Mondays and Thursdays from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.