Crush. Kill. Destroy. It’s a simple motto, with a clear purpose in the world of rugby – whatever you do, whatever it takes, you better win the game. For the second time in three years, the Northwestern men’s club rugby team followed its doctrine and brought back a Chicago Area Rugby Football Union (CARFU) title after an undefeated league season.
The team’s unity and focus is clear from the start of every game. The squad lines up in a circle, jumping up and down to chants such as “We are a team, we play as a team.” As junior captain James Walsh finishes the ritual, the team pronounces its readiness to play by yelling its motto, informing the other team that they better be ready to play.
With a 16-12 win over Northern Illinois in the semifinal and a 17-5 defeat of rival Loyola in the final, the Wildcats finished with a perfect 5-0 record against their CARFU opponents this year.
“This was a goal we’ve been working for for a long time,” said senior Dave Boucher. “Everybody was so excited to finally get that done.”
With the win, the ‘Cats avenged their defeat in the CARFU championship last year to Loyola. Despite leading with ten minutes remaining in last year’s game, the ‘Cats surrendered that lead, giving Loyola the 2008 league championship.
“That’s what everybody has been thinking about, so to finally go in and to beat Loyola in league play and then to beat them for the league championship,” said Boucher, “everything came full circle.”
Although the ‘Cats lost to Wisconsin-Platteville in the first round of the Midwest Playoffs, the team’s play in the tournament was not entirely without achievement. Northwestern notched the first win by a CARFU team in the Midwest Playoffs in nearly a decade and the first win by Northwestern since 1999 by beating Iowa 36-32 in overtime. Despite battling injuries, the ‘Cats pulled out the victory, which senior team president Brendan Flannery called “one of the best wins in the history of our club.” The win was the club’s first over a Big Ten opponent.
Although that win did not help the ‘Cats advance in this year’s Midwest Playoffs, it will help earn both Northwestern and the region increased respect in the rugby world. Rugbymag.com ranked the ‘Cats the 24th best Division II college men’s team on October 22nd after the CARFU victory.
Now with two league titles and a runner-up in CARFU in the last three years, after not having won a title since 1999, the Wildcats have recently been on a wave of unprecedented success.
Boucher attributed this rise in success to “a change in dedication of the team and a change in overall commitment.”
Flannery agreed that a renewed commitment has been greatly responsible for the team’s improved results.
“I think when the senior class this year came together our freshmen year we saw that we had the ingredients for something special,” he said. “All it was going to take was a change in tone from the leadership of the club. Once we became upperclassmen we really made the focus of the club winning instead of just having fun.”
Though the ‘Cats were anchored by a core group of seniors this year, Boucher said he does not expect a drop off in accomplishments, as many of those seniors will remain with the squad next year while completing five year programs. Boucher said he believed the ‘Cats would only lose half of their senior class.
In addition, Walsh, who Boucher said was “undoubtedly the leader on the field,” is only a junior. “He’s going to be able to put together a really strong, strong unit for next season,” said Boucher.
“Things are only moving up,” said Boucher. “We’re happy that we won this CARFU league championship, but we’re not satisfied. And we know that we can do better.”