Indiana Retools

Rugby Indiana takes a varied all-star team to the Mid-Atlantic RCT in Pittsburgh, Pa. with some changes in its organization.

The program, which finished second in Pittsburgh to Florida last year, changed coaches this year bringing in Dan Fitterling in place of Ed Abel. The plan is to have more of a program-oversight influence over the coaching staff, rather than the coach himself formulating the staff. As a result, this year’s Indiana coaching staff has coaches from all over the state. Bart Bottorff is directing the program and coaching the JVs.

“We didn’t get al the players trying out that we wanted to, and our message to players is, we can’t select you if you don’t try out,” said Bottorff. “But we are very happy with the players we have. We are excited about the players from teams that have never had players on the Indiana team before. We’ve found some diamonds in the rough, and we’ll see how they perform on the big stage.”

The Indiana team itself was formed out of last week’s Midwest select-side tournament, which included Indiana North and Indiana South teams. The North seemed to hold sway, but the South still produced some talent. Fitterling said that overall he and his staff have looked for hard workers.

“What we want are players who play smart defense and who get back into position and make tackles,” said Fitterling. “If they do that, they will shine. The offense will come, but we have to start with defense.”

Some of the players who might have a coming-out party include Royal Irish lock Harrison Magee. A big, strong second row, Magee brings his physical play, and Fitterling said he was pleasantly surprised at how gritty the senior was.

Colton Hernandez is a center from Brownsburg who is very tough to stop, and another Brownsburg talent, scrumhalf Parker Lang, is a tough, scrappy presence at the base of the ruck.

“We’ve got our work cut out for us,” said Fitterling. “But I think if we play good team defense, we can do something.”