The "other" other football

Two Wisconsin rugby teams vie for national championships

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The Wisconsin Rugby Club doesn’t get as much attention as it should. Neither, for that matter, does the Wisconsin Women’s Rugby Football Club. But it’s time to start giving these two hard-fighting teams, composed of high-level amateur players, credit where credit is due. After all, both the men’s and the women’s teams have advanced to the USA Rugby Emirates Airline Club Division II National Championship Finals this weekend in Glendale, Colo.

        This is the Super Bowl of the rugby world.

        The women’s team will play the Sacramento (Calif.) Amazons for its first national title Sunday at 2:15 p.m. Central Time at Infinity Park Stadium. The men — who are chasing their third national title following championships in 1998 and 2013 — will battle the Life West Gladiators from Hayward, Calif., at 4:15 p.m. USA Rugby will stream the matches live.

        Both Wisconsin club teams reached this point by dominating their Midwest competitive league opponents over the past several weeks and then continuing their impressive running and rucking at the USA Rugby National Quarterfinals and Semifinals the last weekend in May in Charlotte, N.C.

        The women’s club, in particular, made a loud statement with a 41-12 semifinal victory over the Augusta (Ga.) Furies to advance to the title game. In fact, the women held the Furies scoreless until minute 69 in the 80-minute game. The men knocked off Atlanta Old White, 24-15, by taking an early lead and never relinquishing it to earn their berth in the finals.

        Rugby, played with 15 players per side (or sometimes seven, to make matches shorter), originated in England in the early 19th century and has become the de facto national sport in at least six countries. Rugby was an Olympic sport in the early 20th century before disappearing for decades, but it will return in the form of rugby sevens for the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro. 

        Here in the United States, USA Rugby has introduced the sport to more than five million kids during the past five years through its programs, and more than 700 Senior Club teams are active within the national governing body’s ranks.

        Founded in 1962 and 1975, respectively, the Wisconsin’s men’s and women’s teams practice and compete at the Wisconsin Rugby Sports Complex, 4064 Vilas Rd. in Cottage Grove. If you’re interested in participating, no experience is required.