While rugby may not be the most popular sport in Auburn, the Auburn University Rugby Club has been a staple on the Plains since 1973.
The Auburn club rugby team competes in the fall and the spring, but the fall is more of a warm up for the more serious spring matches.
"The fall season is not our full conference season," said Dillon Rheuby, club president. "The important season is in the spring, where we compete in an all-SEC league called the SCRC."
Though the spring may be the most important competitive season, fall is important for preparation. The team has already competed in several matches this fall, including a sevens tournament. Sevens competitions have only seven players on the field for each team, instead of the usual 15.
Auburn beat Ole Miss and LSU at the tournament, but lost to Texas A&M twice and Tennessee once. The Tennessee game was to determine third place in the tournament.
"We finished fourth in the SEC," Rheuby said. "Beating LSU was huge because they went to the national championship tournament in 2011."
In 15-man competitions this fall, Auburn's record is 2-1.
The club team fell to Alabama, 28-22, but defeated Georgia Tech 20-7 and shut out Jacksonville State, 17-0.
"Though we lost to Alabama, it is an exceptional leap from last year when they beat us handedly," Rheuby said.
Indeed, Auburn's rugby team has come a long way from last season, and it is due in part to new leadership.
"This year we have a new coach, David Bess," said Sebastian Kamyab, a member of the rugby team. "It has really improved the leadership on the team, because it took it out of the players' hands. You can really tell the guys are coming together; we've been more productive on the field, and we've been able to handle ourselves a lot more professionally than before."
Before, the team had no official coaches and relied on players to fill the role. The addition of a coach has already paid dividends.
"This season has been about a 150 percent improvement from where we've been for the past three years," Kamyab said.
Another factor in the team's success was the formation of a group that competed alongside each other in the off season.
"We have a bunch of guys who formed a core group this summer," Rheuby said. "They played together while they were taking summer classes and played exceptionally well almost every time they competed together."
It is a long season, and the most intense and competitive part will come in the spring, but the team will be working hard until that time.
The team practices Tuesdays and Thursdays every week, and because it is a club team that is not university sponsored, it costs $150 each semester to be a member.
Last weekend Auburn got a break from recorded competition as the team played a scrimmage.
Every competition, recorded or not, will help the growing team going forward.
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