RugbyTown Crossover Academy, where athletes from other sports have been undergoing intense training in rugby in Glendale, Colo., will actually take the field in a real rugby game this coming weekend, as the Colorado XOs take on the New Orleans RFC in the Big Easy.

This will be a preseason warmup game for New Orleans and the first chance for the Colorado XOs to show how much they've learned about the game.

The XOs come from football, wrestling, basketball, and other sports to learn rugby and get a shot at a professional contract, a spot on the USA team, or a place in the Olympics. The team is bolstered by a couple of crossovers who have a little rugby experience, plus one or two players who were in the Glendale Academy and who are back in Colorado to try to hook up with a Major League Rugby team.

For example, former Mount St. Mary's lock/flanker Campbell Johnstone is in Glendale because he wasn't picked up after the Dallas Jackals dispersal draft, and he is looking to show what he can do. In the process he will be adding crucial rugby knowledge to the group. 

 How will they do? Director of Rugby Mark Bullock says ... we'll see. 

The Experiment

"Obviously it's a big experiment," Bullock told Goff Rugby Report. "Usually with crossover athletes you have one or two on the team. Here we have almost all of them being crossovers."

Bullock did field a team of crossover athletes in the Aspen Ruggerfest in 2018, and they did relatively well. That team trained for two weeks, and the XOs have been together for six 

"We've worked very hard on upskilling the players," said Bullock. "The key things we've been working on is skill, getting them to a rugby fitness levels, and finally pattern of play. We have just started working on pattern of play."

It's been a task to explain and train all aspects of play separately and then link them into a whole. Rolling out the ball and saying "play" is nice but won't work until the players understand what they are doing and why. This week, though, the players have been in many more game situations.

"Playing touch can be very helpful because it allows players to understand the flow of the game, and then you can have all kinds of versions of touch—two-hand, clearouts—to work on the game," said Bullock. Even so, the first 20 minutes of this weekend's game will be chaotic for the XO players. That's why the game will likely be split up into quarters, with wat amounts to an extended water break becoming an opportunity for coaches to talk through some issues before the next 20.

The Players

Leading the team is probably scrumhalf Michael Bandy. The 23-year-old former football player with the University of San Diego, Bandy has emerged as a sparkplug for the team, leading the attack, and developing into an effective scrumhalf and a scrappy and annoying defender. Flyhalf Line Latu, who played football at Eastern Michigan, called Bandy a "little cuss" on defense. That about describes it.

Up front, Shawn Clark, who played tight end at Monmouth University, is a 6-8 lock who surprising mobility. His ability to move around the park and play well in the open field is exactly what the XOs are all about.

Colorado XOs Roster>>

This is Fun

"I'm having a great time," said Bullock. "We really had no experience with working with a team of players like this. We've had some time with them, and now we're giving them a chance to perform and play."

The XOs program will continue to look at new players and bring them in and out of the program. But this coming up is a first-up test. Can they play? Can they follow the myriad laws of the game? If the answer is no, it's not the end of the experiment, but just a step along the way.