Making a try for victory.
Louisville Crash Rugby is coming full force this season after losing their previous season due to an alleged “bad call.”
“Never do your enemy a minor injury,” Niccolo Machiavelli said, a sentiment opposite for Crash players. The level of sportsmanship and comradery among players is built upon adventures outside the field. Even with talented members and seasoned players assisting the newer players, there will always be a major skill gap, yet the newer players still strive for greatness.
“In Rugby, every tackle is a risk, but every breakthrough is a sweet reward,” four-year forward hooker Nick Hall said. The main way of scoring a try is by breaking through a defensive line and simply running to the goalpost. These breakouts cause a ruck to form where a player is on the ground and his teammates are positioned over him to defend the ball. These moments of physical contact can be dangerous, especially if players throw elbows or punches in rare instances. Crash doesn’t allow players to participate in such activities to maintain safety in the game as one of their coaches John Tekulve maintains his position on safety being their most important thing.
From nicknames to planned-out after-game functions the Crash team loves to interact with one another. The players are split into backs and forwards of which they grow into their roles for the sport and comradery. Most players during their conditioning have to team up with one another for running which pairs similarly built individuals this is especially good for the bonding on the forward side. The forwards jokingly refer to themselves as “Hogs” and even have their chant for when practice is done. Most forwards are overweight which allows them to all make jokes when normally others couldn’t resulting in further inside jokes such as the defensive line being called “the buffet line” on occasion. The bonding and brotherhood go beyond practice even with social events being commonplace after games and for many players even a post-practice ritual of getting food and breaking bread together all of which have built a sense of friendship and family among their players.
“We have to work harder than everyone to be successful,” head coach Cameron Bernard said. With many first-year players being on the team, conditioning and training is a top priority. Players must prime themselves before every practice. With specialized drills for their positions. They start a jog, stretch and the conditioning begins. The conditioning is immense for many players yet still none are deterred for the drive to carry on carries them over the hill of pain. Coach Bernard has directly said that due to Crash being a newer team and having such a disadvantage in skill the team needs to “work twice as hard if we want to even think about beating them”. Crash competes mostly against Indiana-based teams who have been playing for years it hasn’t stopped them yet and it will this year.
