Irish Rugby Tour Sets St. Thomas Aquinas Up for Success
Irish Rugby Tour Sets St. Thomas Aquinas Up for Success
St. Thomas Aquinas has returned from their tour of Ireland ready to launch into a run for the second half of the season.
"It was a good tour, good, hard competition," said Head Coach Tim Kluempers. "We got a good run with the boys, got some confidence playing, and it was beautiful weather every day. the funny thing was the guys wanted some mud, they wanted to play in the mud, and we got a muddy day the last year."
Add to that coaching sessions and a good variety of experiences.
"The backs and the forwards were all a new combination this year, so this was a great opportunity to just get better," said Kluempers. "You see that lightbulb go on and you realize maybe you're doing something right!"
"We didn't have our full roster, but that was alright," added player Trever Mogren. "We knew we were going to have to adjust and our reserves were a little different. But the first two games the teams we played assumed we were bad because we were American. Then we beat them. That was a real morale-booster."
The thing about the tour, which was run by Irish Rugby Tours, was that the games can often take a back seat to everything else. Touring a castle or seeing Ireland's Atlantic Coast adds something special to the trip, and the whole thing ends up becoming about the team.
"We all did a very nice job of supporting and working with each other," said STA player Cooper Coates. "I think we all grew as rugby players and as teammates. We were taught by many great coaches and Irish players at the practices. But off the field I would say one of the values was accountability, since it's important to not only make yourself look good, but also the ones you play with. Like Coach Kluempers says: 'one of you act a fool, it makes the team look a fool.' Everyopne did their part in making sure we set the best examples of ourselves that we can."
"The trip made us closer," added Mogren. "Sometimes the best memories are just having a meal with your teammates in a strange town, little activities like that. We graduated 22 seniors last year, so this is a whole new team. I didn't know some of the players on the team that well, but I am now friends with a lot of kids I wasn't before."
That's a huge step for the team as a whole.
On the field, Aquinas has taken some things from the games. Coates said the team learned to be more patient and more unselfish in scoring position.
Mogren said some tactics will probably change—they will focus on being deeper but more narrow when they have the ball.
"Now we’re focused on quicker ball," he said. "We've cleaned up our rucks a lot and we want to get the ball out a lot quicker. In Ireland, it's unbelievable how quick their recycling is. This trip really helped us focus on keeping the pace moving and I think now players aren’t afraid to step up and try something new.
"Touring like this helps our understanding of the game."
If you want to tour Ireland or countries such as UK, Portugal, New Zealand, South Africa, Italy, and more, connect with Irish Rugby Tours at irishrugbytours.com
