The Old Methodist Rugby Football Club finished with a 3-1 record in the Beast of the East Tournament in Portsmouth, New Hampshire this past weekend, matching up against some of the region’s strongest Division I and II programs.
The Beast of the East is the largest collegiate rugby program tournament in the world. This year, competing in Division II, the club posted wins over the New Haven U-23 team (Quinnipiac), Wentworth Institute of Technology, and U. Maine. The team fell to the University of Rhode Island on Saturday, a strong squad who defeated Old Methodist in the finals of last year’s tournament as well.
After returning from spring break, team practices had been washed out by the abysmal weather. As a result, the club only had a few weeks to prepare for the Beast of the East Tournament. Despite not having a coach, senior captain emeritus Obhi Hazarika provided leadership for this young team. In addition, rugby veterans and current captains Dave Delcourt ’05, Sam Coe ’06, and Nick During ’06 have helped develop the recently resurrected Old Methodist Rugby Football Club.
“We have a young team this year, and the weeks of practice we lost were obstacles to our gaining strength as a cohesive unit,” Hazarika said. “We’ve gotten an exceptional turnout in the class of ’08, a solid representation in ’07, the future leadership in a now-experienced ’06 class, and a tight core of ’05 players who’ve taken the pitch with each other since freshman year.”
The name Old Methodist Rugby Football Club was the title of school’s 1970’s rugby team that died out in the 1980’s but was revived in 2003. Since then, the team has embraced the ideals of the ruggers of thirty years ago as a tightly formed group with senior leadership at the core.
“We’re really going to miss the old boys in this graduating class,” Coe said. “They’ve been the heart and soul of the team since I started playing my freshman year. The wisdom and dedication of this senior class has given us direction and taught our team how to play rugby better than teams that are five times our size.”
A proverbial band of brothers, the team can be found together both on and off the field, like last week at the birthday party of senior leader Tim Johnson.
“Our squad is composed, disciplined, and polite,” Johnson said. “You show me a man who responds to a forced, public dry-humping with poise, humility, and grace, and I’ll show you David Skinner ’08. Anyone who doesn’t respect that will have to answer to Stuerzel [Andrew ’05], who once dreamed about burying an ax in a guy’s chest while tears streamed down his [Stuerzel’s] face.”
The final home game for the club will be played this Saturday against Connecticut College at 1 p.m. on the Long Lane Field, across from the Organic Farm. Fan support would be greatly appreciated as the seniors play their final Old Methodist match.
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