The Scrummin’ Utes have never asked for much, never received much and will probably never get the respect or support they deserve.
But that won’t stop them from playing. And playing pretty damned well, too.
The rugby team is coming off an admirable 10-2 season, with its only two losses coming from BYU and proverbial rugby powerhouse Cal-Berkeley. Along the way, the Utes also scored a trip to the National Collegiate Rugby Championship Final Four, only to lose to the eventual champion California, which has won 15 out of the last 16 titles.
So how do you build on a team that has finished in the top four in the nation three years out of the last five?
Well, you start by returning six All-Americans from last year’s third-place team, then you add some extremely gifted young athletes, throw in a competitive winning coach in Mark Numbers and?poof! That’s all of the accoutrement you need to make a superlative rugby salad?err, team.
Peter Black, Scott Nielsen, Blake Burdette, Chris Giles, Jason Pye and Cameron Kiser were all selected to the annual All-American team in June. These six will lead a group of younger talent into another promising year.
Some of that talent includes Andrew Swindle, who just started playing rugby last year and kept competing throughout the summer at his coach’s request.
“Andrew has made huge strides as far as developing his game this summer,” Numbers said.
And Swindle is not the only one working on his game this summer. The majority of the players on the team play on local club teams and practice as often as they can.
All of these returning talents and promising newcomers will be needed to push the Utes over the hump this year as they look to contend for their first national collegiate championship.
After losing to Cal-Berkeley in the semi-final match 30-11, coach Numbers is convinced his team can compete at the highest level.
“We’re right on par with the best of them, and we have a lot of great players and discipline this year,” Numbers said.
Despite having a reputation for being one of the best rugby teams in the nation, the Scrummin’ Utes have had to rent out local indoor arenas for “home” games.
Coach Numbers is disappointed with the school’s lack of support and funding, but understands the university’s commitments to the other well-established programs.
“It is frustrating that our school doesn’t support us a little bit more, but we appreciate everything we get,” Numbers said.
Utah rugby will have to cope with the minimal funding and support, at least for now, but that won’t stop it from competing at a high level once again-possibly even competing for a title.
