By Evan Lappen
Two years ago, Wisconsin Rugby Club and Rocky Gorge Rugby Football Club met in the DII National Championship in Glendale, Colorado. It was a highly contested match that saw the perceived underdog, Rocky Gorge, as the champion. The next year, both teams returned to the National Playoffs, however, only one of the teams returned to the championship final. Wisconsin earned their right to hoist the trophy convincingly by amassing 60 points against Wilmington, who beat Gorge on their way to the final. This season, the last two DII champions are undefeated and have won their respective conferences. Next weekend, the two top DII teams in nation will meet in the quarterfinals of the National Playoffs in Pittsburgh, PA.
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Wisconsin returns to the National Playoffs for the third year in a row in search of it’s third national championship. The team returns 16 players from it’s squad this year and is hungry for more. The most common word to describe Wisconsin is “explosive”. The offense riddled off a total of 82 tries in 13 matches and in the conference final versus the Detroit Tradesmen. Wisconsin scored four tries each covering more than 50 meters. However, the real strength of the team lies with the defense where a strong Detroit offense pounded the ball into contact a total of 74 times in the second half of the game, but only came away with 12 points. Club President Max Zukowski stated that “Detroit was very, very controlled on offense and maintained possession unlike any match I can recall. Our head coach Adam Thimmig said he was very proud after the game as it was the best defensive efforts he had ever seen in a live rugby match.” Captain Jake Winkler leads this fundamentally sound and balanced club that went 8-0-1 in the regular season and defeated the St. Paul Jazz Pigs, the Eastside Banshees, and Detroit to win the Midwest Conference.
Wisconsin has the “it takes a club” mentality where they put an enormous value on the support and dedication of their current players, including the Division IV club, the old boys, the fans, and especially the extended rugby families. When asked about what attributed to the team’s success this season, Club Vice President Phil Winkler said, “Respect. Everyone who plays is donating their time in the endeavor of bettering the team. We respect each other for the time and sacrifice everyone makes. Might be smaller for some, and bigger for others, but nobody is in it for the fame nor fortune, as there is none to be had in rugby in the US......yet.” Wisconsin will attempt to return to the finals for the third year in a row and win the title in their hometown in Madison.
2014 will be the fourth year in a row that Rocky Gorge has made it to the National Playoffs and the third year in a row where they advanced to the Round of Eight. Gorge won the National Championship in 2012 and unfortunately lost to the eventual 2013 finalist Wilmington last year. In the last four years, the club has grown tremendously going from a social club to a nationally competitive power that fields a DII and DIII side. By recruiting talent from regional colleges, such as Salisbury, Towson, and UMBC, Gorge has developed a program that has consistently defeated teams from each division. Gorge went undefeated this season with a 10-0 record and wins against the Lancaster Roses, Doylestown, and Wilmington in the Mid Atlantic Conference (MAC) Playoffs. With the addition of new blood and an experienced core of 14 players from the championship, Gorge is ready for an extended run in the playoffs.
While not overly big, Gorge makes up for size in their fast paced, aggressive, forwards-oriented attack that is only matched by their intense physicality on defense. Additionally, Gorge has the uncanny ability to adapt their style of play to whatever their opponent gives them. This was exhibited in the MAC playoffs where Gorge was trailing at halftime in each of the games against Doylestown and Wilmington. Gorge took over in the second half of both games as they scored a combined eight tries and their defense clamped down to hold their opponents to a single try, including a shutout vs Wilmington.
The trademarks of this season can be broken into the depth, fitness, and commitment to the winning philosophy that head coach and former Eagle 7s captain Will Brewington and forwards coach Nic DiMichele have emphasized to the club. DiMichele added, “In 2012, everyone felt what it feels like to win. We thought it was going to be easy to go back. Getting knocked out in the elite eights, not even making it back to defend the title, put a chip on everyone’s shoulder. There’s a bit more tenacity than there was last season.”
When questioned on what to expect from Wisconsin, DiMichele stated that they are “a very well coached and drilled team. They don’t make too many mistakes. They don’t turn over the ball and they make you pay when you do. It doesn’t seem like they do anything fancy, but they keep a really tight gameplan and they run it very well.” Wisconsin Vice President Garett Donath expects “a tough fight from a balanced team” and Winkler added that when the last two national champions play against each other “maybe TV broadcasters in the US will start to take notice, and rugby can start to grow nationally. Keep talking about it. Broadcasters love terms like ‘national contenders’ and ‘recent national champions squaring off’.”
When asked about the quarterfinal, Gorge captain Matt Carroll expects “a war. I respect their team. They came and played us two years ago in a tough game on a hot day and we came out the victor. Then they buckled down and decided they were going to win their own championship and they did that last year. You have to respect that. But I can tell from my own experience, it’s not as good unless you avenge your last loss. As far as I’m concerned, their last loss was against us. They’re coming to avenge that loss and we’re coming to take their championship. When you have two teams focused and two teams ready, it’s going to be a great game, it’s going to be hard hitting. We want what they have and it’s up for us to take it.”
The path to the finals doesn’t stop here though. The victor of the game will advance to take on the winner of the South and Northeast Conference quarterfinal, New Haven Old Black vs Atlanta Old White. The National Championship against the winner of the Dallas Regional will play on May 31st in Madison, WI.