Rugby Is Pro Rugby So Great?
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OCTOBER 2012 VOL 39 • NO. 9 ARC TESTS NEWBIES USA FALL TOURS HS FAM PAIR FOOTBALL & RUGBY IS PRO RUGBY SO GREAT? CONTENTS RUGBY MAGAZINE VOL. 38 NO. 9 OCTOBER 2012 25 no Rest FoR tHe weary Eagle and Penn State coach, Pete Steinberg brings his pen- chant for organization to WNT. 5 editoR’s woRd 13 growtH in jcs? 22 eaGles’ Fall Alex Goff reminds new college Pat Clifton sees growth potential in The Americas Rugby Champion- players that their hijinks reflect on junior colleges and looks to lead- ship initiates some of the younger us all. ers like Kevin Battle for inspiration. Eagle pool players. 6 a novel novel 17 oFF tHe CLOCK 30 sF Gate to eden Allyn Freeman discovers an impor- Taylor Mokate, a 7s and 15s Eagle, San Fran Golden Gate lures rugby tant piece of literature that aided reminisces about his first days on aficionados and national champi- the proliferation of rugby. the pitch. onships with their idyllic set-up. 9 HeRRiMan dUo 18 GoFFonRUGBY 34 FULLTIMe Father and son team up at Herri- Aspiring to be a pro rugby player? Justin Rutledge has seen rugby man High School, linking football There are some important things evolve over the years but knows and rugby. to know the overseas lifestyle. some more nurturing is in store. OCTOBER 2012 RUGBY 3 ALL THE RUGBY AT YOUR FINGERTIPS RUGBYMag.com is the leading source of rugby news, analysis and opinion in the United States. We cover American rugby from the pros to the kids, and everything in between. New Features • Exclusive Columns • Breaking News • All Scores, All Competitions • Rugby Magazine Digital RUGBYMAG.com RUGBY MAGAZINE • octoBER 2012 EDITOR’S WORD s I prepared to write this column, I was have added to the positive steps the game as a struck by three stories we were consid- whole can make. ering for publication on RUGBYMag. But that’s just it. The game as a whole. If you A are a college rugby player or coach, you have a com. One was the story of the Nothern Illinois rugby team springing into action during a prac- huge responsbility. You represent your school, tice to perform CPR on a passerby who had col- and you represent this sport. Especially if you lapsed; another was about a college team in are new to the game, you are now labeled, for trouble with their adminstration for an inci- better and for worse, as a rugby player. You do dent involving alcohol; and another was about one stupid thing. You get beer for your under- a college team kicked off campus for hazing. age teammate. You participate in some anti- Needless to say, some stories are more pleas- quated and sophomoric hazing ritual. You ing to write than others. College rugby, espe- take your clothes off in public. It’s not just col- cially, is always teetering on a precipice. Popu- lege hijinks anymore; it’s rugby being irre- lated, and often run as it is, by young men and sponsible. It’s all of us who care so much about women who are at a horizon-broadening time, this game, because it’s the greatest team sport collegiate rugby can be a place where young in the world; because it’s the sport that hon- student-athletes find themselves and create a ors its opponents; because it’s the sport you meaningful experience, or it can be someplace can play all your life. We who have played or where they make huge mistakes. coached or refereed or read and watched all College rugby is where RUGBY Magazine’s our lives care that this sport continues to parent company has found an entry point into mean something good. the national sporting consciousness with the Like it or not, new college player, you’re on USA 7s Collegiate Rugby Championship. The the team of rugby now, and what you do re- coverage of the major college finals on TV flect on us all. SOMETHING ON YoUr MIND? SUBSCRIBe: e’d love to hear from you! Rugby Maga- rUGBY mAGAZINE AND zine welcomes your praise, complaints rUGBYmAG.COM W RugbyMAGAZINE and comments on urious how you subscribe now that anything we pub- Editor in chiEf Alex Goff, [email protected] lish online or in the CRugby Magazine is a digital publica- tion? Editor Jackie finlan, [email protected] magazine. Let us Asst Editor Pat clifton, [email protected] know what you Actually, it’s easier than ever. want to read more If you are an existing subscriber, you now dEsiGnEr Andre Mathura of, something we’ve have a corresponding online Premier sub- missed, or a story scription at RUGBYMag.com. contributinG writErs that resonated with This Premier subscription gives you exclu- Allyn freeman, Mark numbers, Justin rutledge you. sive access to articles, news and columns contributinG PhotoGrAPhErs E-mail publisher@ throughout the year, not just on magazine publishing dates. You also get exclusive ac- Austin brewin, Marvin dangerfield, dobson im- rugbymag.com and ages, herriman football, JJ Michael, steve Mitch- vent away. You cess to Rugby Magazine. If you don’t have your login, contact us ell, ian Muir, red hat Photo, Phillipa snyman, might see your comments in the next issue. Judy teasdale at: [email protected] and we Letters to Rugby Magazine are assumed intended for pub- will ensure you have it. AmericAn internAtionAl mediA, LLC lication in whole or in part and may be used for such purposes. Letters become the property of Rugby Maga- If you would like to subscribe to Rugby cEo & PrEsidEnt A. Jon Prusmack zine. Nothing from Rugby Magazine may be reproduced Magazine (and get the RUGBYMag.com controllEr Maureen burnett in whole or in part without written permission from the Premier access as well), simply visit: AccountinG Marybeth bifulco, Kim houghton publisher. The opinions expressed by contributing writers to Rugby Magazine are not necessarily those of the pub- www.rugbymag.com AdvErtisinG inquiriEs lisher or editors. Fraudulent or objectionable advertising is rugby Magazine not knowingly accepted. Advertising and advertising and click on the subscribe button at the top 11 Martine Ave., 8th fl, white Plains, nY 10606 agencies assume liability for all content of advertising (p) 914-831-6200, (f) 914-831-6201 of the page. and for any claims arising therein. E-mail: [email protected] OCTOBER 2012 RUGBY 5 HISTORY RUGBY in TOM BROWn’S SCHOOL DAYS By Allyn FreemAn the primary running game played by young 1828 to 1841. Arnold championed the study gentleman at england’s well-known public of classical languages, history, and mathemat- n the mid 19th Century, the game of schools. The occasion was publication of the ics, which became the model for other educa- rugby football spread throughout eng- novel in 1857 of Tom Brown’s School Days by tional institutions in Great Britain and also land, as many Old rugbeians attended Thomas Hughes. the United States. He also believed in the ben- I Hughes attended rugby School from 1834 eficial aspects of competitive sport, namely Oxford and Cambridge to continue playing the game. As everyone knows, it was at rugby to 1842, and captured in prose the quintes- rugby and cricket. School when William Webb ellis picked up sential experience of a boy’s boarding school, It was Arnold who also initiated the prefect the ball and ran with it in 1823. But another most notably, the education principles of the (or Praepostor, latin) system which autho- event, not on the pitch, also had a profound rugby School’s headmaster, the real-life Dr. rized the 6th-formers (Seniors) to act as men- effect establishing that rugby would become Thomas Arnold, who headed the school from tors and guides, keeping order in the school 6 RUGBY OCTOBER 2012 WWW.RUGBYMAG.COM The home of Thomas Hughes, author of Tom Browns’ School Days, from 1832-1842. RUGBY COMICS for the lower-form boys. Hughes used his brother, George, also a Here are some excerpts from the rugby alumnus, as the model for Tom Brown, Classic Comic of Tom Brown’s School who enters rugby as a naïve, 11-year old, and Days. The hugely influential novel learns quickly the new codes of conduct for chronicles the life and times of survival skills needed for the transition to schoolboy Brown, who garners some manhood. The book achieved remarkable sales attention from East, the top athlete in in england, the most successful of its time de- the boarding house, after sacrificing scribing life in a boarding school. yet, although his body to secure the ball during a Tom’s experience with sport and bullying was rugby match. applicable to all english public schools, it was rugby School that would reap the positive no- Based at the Rugby School, the insti- toriety. The book also introduced the first and tution received lots of attention as the perhaps the most famous of all literary school novel skyrocketed off the sales chart. bullies, the notorious coward Harry Flash- man, about whom the 20th Century writer George macDonald Frazer would go on to cre- ate many humorous historical novels in the famous “Flashman Papers” series. Tom Brown breaks through the clutter of school anonymity by his surprising derring- do on the rugby pitch. In the contest between school houses, Tom, as the smallish lower Former, dives on the ball (see insert from the Classic Comic of the novel) to halt the oppo- nents from probably scoring the winning goal. He’s the new boy hero that saves the day, and receives the ultimate accolade from east, the top sportsman in his house, who says, “Well, he is as plucky youngster, and will make a player.” (See second comic frame for this ex- change.) Hughes’s recounting of the rugby match represented one of the first mentioning of the sport in novel form, which resulted in its positive acceptance throughout the coun- try.