This week the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Warhawks rugby team got to practice on the school’s football stadium field.

 

That was nice for a number of reasons, not least of which was that the turf field was cleared of snow, making things a little easier in chilly Wisconsin. It was also a nice indication of the respect the program has earned. The football team, you see, is still training and going into the national playoffs. It’s not rare for an athletic department to close off the football field as if it’s Area 51 and the rugby team is a bunch of pesky alien conspiracy theorists. But at UW-W they saw the men’s rugby team needed to prepare for the national semifinal/final weekend coming up and gave them what they needed.

 

“We have a pretty good relationship with the school,” said Whitewater club officer Joe Grams. “It’s nice that they let us go out there. It was very cold, but it was good to get out there, and I think that the success we’ve had has helped. They see we’ve got a lot of dedicated guys who are working hard.”

 

That they are, especially on defense. Whitewater has blown out every team they’ve faced this season in going 11-0. Their closest game was their conference final, and they won that by 31 points over UW-Stout.

 

And until their quarterfinal against Vermont, no team had scored more than 15 against them. 

 

“We went into that game knowing it was going to be tough,” said Grams. “We felt we had the game and they scored late, but they scored because they are a good team, very aggressive, and don’t give up.”

 

Final score was 64-25. 

 

Now Whitewater looks ahead to Notre Dame College and then either Minnesota-Duluth or James Madison. All are teams that can score, hence the extra work on defense.

 

“The two teams we’ll play will be very strong offensively,” said Grams. “So we’re working on keeping a good spread defense. We know our offense will come together as long as we’ve got our defense sorted out.”

 

There remains concern that Whitewater, which averaged 82.5 points a game, has not really been pushed by anyone. That would be a bit of a slight on Stout, who showed themselves to be a top-ten-caliber program in the playoffs. But still the winning margins have been so massive, you have to wonder if they can handle adversity.

 

“We have been tested at times,” assured Grams. “And we will be tested against Notre Dame. They remind me of Stout, but maybe a bit more athletic. Our forwards have been playing well these past few games, and they will have to against Notre Dame.”

 

Lock AJ Andolino has been outstanding this season leading a very solid forward pack, while out wide flyhalf Jack Healy and center Robbie Sindic have been crucial in defense and in setting up others for points. Wing Matt Drzewicki has been a major performer at wing.

 

Perhaps the breakout performer for Whitewater has been tighthead prop Brandon Lopez. A big presence on the field he needed to get himself more mobile, and he has done that, exploding onto the field as a stronger, more fit version of himself.

 

“We’ve got a good team,” said Grams. “When we get quick ball we’re dynamic. We can pass, we can offload out of the tackle. Our defense is solid and our offense is the best I’ve seen since I’ve been here. We’ve got a good shot at it.”