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Written by Ken Trahan, President--NewOrleans.Com/Sports | Thursday, 16 April 2009 08:08 | LSU News
My guess is that you had no idea that New Orleans and Louisiana were hotbeds of rugby. I certainly was part of that mindset. Not anymore.
The LSU Rugby Football Club is flourishing in 2009.
• Tigers thump Utah in Sweet 16
In fact the Tigers have reached the Sweet 16 as the nation's third-seed and will face 14th-seed Utah Friday at Berkeley, California. Should LSU win and advance to the elite eight, they would face the winner of sixth-seeded San Diego State and 11th-seeded Bowling Green on Saturday. Should LSU lose, they would play Saturday in a game to determine seeding for the 2010 season.
LSU is 13-1 on the season with their only loss to Arkansas State. The Tigers of Coach Scott McLean won the SEC rugby title in the fall. They are a member of the Western Rugby Football Union and won their conference championship this spring. In Greeley, Colorado last weekend,, LSU endured a game postponement due to 18 inches of snow last Saturday and having to pair a pair of games on Sunday, an unprecedented occurrence (to play two games on the same day) in the national regionals.
LSU got it done, beating Colorado State 18-14 before defeating Air Force 51-18 to advance to the Sweet 16. LSU will be favored to advance to the Final Four which will be held in Palo Alto, California.
LSU Rugby is a Club sport, part of the university recreation department. It has existed since 1970. The Tigers play at the Sports and Adventure Complex in Baton Rouge on River Road. LSU has 48 players in its rugby program with a 25-man active roster.
What makes the LSU roster intriguing is the fact that 20 of the 25 players are from metro New Orleans.
The team is dominated by the presence of 12 former players from Jesuit High School. There are five former Brother Martin team members and two former Rummel players on the squad with one from Fontainebleau High School.
The others include two players from England, one from North Carolina, one from Catholic High (Baton Rouge) and another from Teurlings Catholic (Lafayette).
The Jesuit players include Brenden Batt, Michael Bilalis, Michael Bordes, Saade Bou-Mikael, Lee Farrell, Michael Heier, Eric Johns, Robert Johns, James Rehkopf, Robert Speyrer, Eric West and Ian Wisecarver. Former Brother Martin stars include Jayson DeLeaumont, Adam Ducoing, Cullen Glennon, Brent Jeansonne and Andrew Larkin. Former Rummel players on the team are Nick Raziano and Cody Cadella. Tyler Ammerman prepped at Fontainebleau.
Cody Cadella is a junior hooker from Rummel. He also serves as Club President. Growing up in Metairie, Cadella began playing rugby as a sophomore at Rummel. "I fell in love with the game. We had a good team and there were very good teams in our Catholic league. All of us were competitive but became friends," said Cadella.
Cadella says that the proliferation of the LSU rugby program is largely due to the excellence of rugby in the New Orleans area: "New Orleans is well ahead of the curve in rugby nationally, in the development of the sport. The U-19 New Orleans Rugby Club team has won the equivalent of three consecutive national championships," said Cadella.
Cadella says the sport is gaining momentum nationally. "While it is a club sport here, rugby is a varsity sport at many schools. Most NCAA member institutions now have rugby programs and others are looking into adding teams," Cadella said.
For those who may not be aware, the game consists of two 40 minute halves with a 10 minute halftime. Each team fields 15 players, including eight forwards and seven backs. All get involved in offense and defense. Each team is allowed seven substitutions. Once a player is substituted for, he cannot return to the game. A "try," touching the ball down with pressure and under control in the opponent's goal area is worth five points. A "drop kick," where a player kicks the ball from the goal posts, is worth three points.
There are three divisions of college rugby (Divisions 1,2 & 3). LSU is a member of Division One, the only Division One playing rugby school in Louisiana. Tulane, Loyola, ULL, SLU and Louisiana Tech all have Division Three rugby programs.
There are two pools of eight teams set to play this weekend. One is in Atlanta, Georgia while the other is in Berkeley. LSU drew the long end of the stick, as in long travel, getting sent to Berkeley, rather than in the south to Georgia. "That made it more challenging to raise money to make the trip but we were able to do so," said Cadella. Should the Tigers win their pool (Pool C) in Berkley, they would have to raise more money to return to California to play for a national championship in Palo Alto.
"We'll cross that bridge when we get there. Of course, it would be a pleasant problem to have, reaching the Final Four," said Cadella. This team has done an outstanding job of crossing bridges to get to this point thanks to the bridge, or should I say pipeline, that runs from Greater New Orleans to the LSU pitch with players making their mark by winning most every scrum. Let the ruck begin at Berkeley!
Here are the national Sweet 16 Rugby Pairings (Printable Bracket):
Friday, April 17 @ Berkeley, California:
Pool C
#3 LSU (West #1 seed) vs. #14 Utah (Pacific #4 seed)
- UPDATE: LSU beats Utah, 47-5 (Story)
#11 Bowling Green (Midwest #1 seed) vs. #6 San Diego State (Southern Cal #1 seed)
Pool B
#7 Navy (Mid-Atlantic #2 seed) vs. #10 Arkansas State (South #1 seed)
#15 Dartmouth (Northeast #2 seed) vs. #2 BYU (Pacific #2 seed)
Saturday, April 18 @ Atlanta, Georgia:
Pool A
#9 Air Force (West #2 seed) vs. #8 Cal Poly (Southern Cal #2 seed)
#16 Minnesota (Midwest #2 seed) vs. #1 California (Pacific #1 seed)
Pool D
#5 Penn State (Mid-Atlantic #1 seed) vs. #12 Tennessee (South #2 seed)
#13 Army (Northwest #1 seed) vs. #4 St. Mary's (Pacific #3 seed)
Thanks for the excellent article!
