Scattered around Belmont on car bumpers, front doors, and water bottles are stickers that read “Belmont Rugby – More Than A Game”. While these stickers serve as a fundraiser for the program, they also speak a serious truth: beneath the seemingly vicious and almost primal side of the game, a deep brotherhood exists.
Such a relationship exists between the Marauders and their brother program in Ridgefield, Connecticut. For the past 12 years, the two teams have opened their seasons by playing against each other in a joint scrimmage and practice. While the results are purely ceremonial, the connection between the two programs is anything but that.
Coaches from both programs ran integrated warmups and drills for about an hour, before the varsity and junior varsity teams each played a 40 minute game. For some, like sophomore Trey Clark, the scrimmage was their first official rugby game.
“It was a really fun way to start playing,” said Clark, who scored a try on his first touch of the ball. “The team culture was unlike any other sport [I’d] ever played.”
While the final scores were a bit of an afterthought, both of Belmont’s teams came out on top, with the varsity side winning 29-0 and their JV team winning 21-0. As is tradition after every rugby game, the two teams shared a meal in the cafeteria.
“It was a great reminder of the reasons that we play rugby.” Coach Greg Bruce said. “It makes [me] truly happy to see friendships and bonds emerging between these guys, regardless of which state [they’re] from.”
Senior captain Iggy de la Fuente gave a speech during the postgame meal, in which he cited the “brotherhood and friendship of rugby” as one of the reasons he had been drawn to the program as a freshman. De la Fuente will continue playing next year, as he will be taking his talents to Brown University. As players like de la Fuente continue on to the collegiate level and players like Clark begin their journeys, they carry with them a shared understanding that rugby is more about the collective and less about the individual. It is this spirit of unity that truly makes Belmont rugby more than a game.
