By After standing unranked nationally for 10 years, the Long Beach State men’s rugby team is back on the map since Rugby Magazine ranked it the 20th best in the nation.
In spite of past national championships and Division II rankings, LBSU Rugby has often gone without recognition in spite of its recent success, first-year head coach Jason Reynolds said.
“Twentieth isn’t bad,” Reynolds said. “But with those accolades and the strongest schedule in the league, there’s always going to be a target on your back.”
Reynolds, a former LBSU rugby player, has been involved with rugby for more than 20 years. He said he spent the past four seasons serving as the assistant coach for the rugby team and is taking over as head coach this season.
Reynolds said the 49ers are set to return with 12 starters, making them poised and ready to go for the season.
According to Reynolds, the 12 players along with other returning players are stepping up and working every day to uphold their commitment to LBSU.
“What separates us is our tradition of committed players to the program,” Reynolds said. “Our rugby culture is not many like other teams’. We’re doing things right here.”
Reynolds said the 49ers don’t adhere to the traditional pre and post-game celebrations that usually go hand-in-hand with rugby culture. These activities include partying after games and pregame rituals, such as chants and stomping that teams often display as a form of exhibitionism.
Rugby Team Captain and senior recreational major Nate Caukin said the team wants its opponents to know who they are.
“We have never really been given our due respect across the league,” Caukin said. “We may not be the biggest or the flashiest, but the next day, you’ll know who you played against.”
With rugby being a club sport, recruiting becomes difficult with the inability to offer scholarships or compensation to players, Caukin said. Large schools like University of California, Berkeley and University of California, Los Angeles, he said, have more opportunity to recruit the top talent in the state.
While the 49ers may seem at a disadvantage on paper, their playing style makes up for any handicaps, Caukin said.
“Our identity is the junkyard dog,” Caukin said. “We like to think that we care about our brother next to us more than other squads.”
The 49ers have had three straight USA Rugby playoff appearances, two in Division II and one in Division I-AA, where they made quarterfinals in the last two years. In capping the 2013 season, the squad returned from a two-week undefeated tour of Italy over the summer.
The team is set to open the season against University of Southern California on Nov. 17.
