Rugby Has Rich 49-Year History at Wabash

Photos courtesy Andy Chandler

By Andy Chandler

Wabash sports. When I say that, most people will think of the big sports that draw big crowds like baseball, basketball and football.

Now I’ll bring up rugby. 

While most Americans might be tempted to put rugby on a sub-tier below those bigger sports, one group of Wabash College students and alumni aim to change that. 

On a sunny day recently, while I was returning to my car after photographing baseball, I caught a glimpse on the field next to the lacrosse field of something I hadn’t seen since my playing days in college, rugby balls. Curious, I went up to the group who was finishing up their cool down stretching and began talking to them. 

Come to find out, Wabash College has had a club team off and on for the last 49 years. I was fortunate that day because I met the club captain and coaches. They invited me to practice the next day. While I would rather not speak to how it went for me, I was humbly reminded that I’m 45 and not 25 and carry as many extra pounds as my age.  However, it’s remarkable how much the body remembers. 

During the practice, I was able to talk rugby with some of the leadership. 

The team is well established both in Wabash sports and the collegiate rugby community. “We are technically a club at Wabash College but internally our team has treated ourselves as a competitive sport for over a decade now,” according to assistant coach and Wabash College Class of ‘24 Matthew Brooks. “Wabash rugby is a part of the Allegheny Rugby Conference with teams in our conference stretching from Indiana to New York . . . We won the ARC 7s conference championship tournament in April of 2023 which provided us a bid to compete in the National Collegiate Rugby tournament in late April of 2023 where we placed third in the nation for small college rugby. “

In the fall the team will play rugby 10’s (ten player sides), and in the spring, the club will play a faster paced rugby 7’s. The latter is the format that is played at the Olympic Games.

I asked about the future of the club and rugby in the US. Team Captain Nate Powell stated that while they have an official roster of 25 players, he would like to see at least 23 players regularly at practices so they can participate in rugby 15’s matches on a consistent basis.

Head Coach Kelly Romano of Carmel said that one of the goals of USA Rugby is to recruit a million new players at the club and professional levels by the time of the upcoming Olympics in Los Angeles, and the men’s and women’s Rugby World Cup in 2027 and 2029 in Australia.

The team meets Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays (although schedules may vary) during the week of the regular school year. For more information, a simple search for Wabash College Rugby Club on Facebook will get people in touch with them.