The agitation and anxiety a coach might feel being in the national semifinals for the first time ever isn’t descending on Bob Weggler.

Having been coaching at Norwich University for 16 years and 40 years on total, Weggler has seen ups and downs. He’s not going to let the weight of the moment, as the Cadets travel to Furman University to take on #1-ranked Wisconsin-Whitewater, take over.

“The stars have aligned for this team,” said Weggler. “We’ve got a bunch of seniors and they are good leaders and smart rugby players. When you have that camaraderie, then things tend to go well. We’ve got hard-working kids - it’s a military school. They’re focused. But this team has really good chemistry.”

The season started for Norwich with games against DIAA Colgate, and a round-robin with Penn, and Canadian teams Bishop’s and Sherbrooke. Those round-robin games all ended in very close losses, and it was that test that showed Weggler he had a pretty useful team, and showed the players they still had work to do.

“We started early and we found out what we needed to do,” said Weggler. “We had different players in and out due to injuries, but because we had those warmup games and game time for players, we’ve been able to adjust.”

Witness flyhalf Keegan Frick getting injured and Zach Norris stepping in admirably early in the fall.

“We’ve been at it since August,” said Weggler. “It’s a lot of games and situations. We had a game where we won on the last play of the game (against Vermont) and a tough game against Middlebury. Anytime you’ve been coaching as long as I have you realize sometimes things go your way.”

So out of a difficult warmup and a challenging NECRC season, Norwich held off Bentley 30-17 in the Round of 16, and Rowan 38-22 in the quarterfinals. 

Against Bentley Norwich ran out to a 20-0 lead with scrumhalf Tom St. Pierre continuing his outstanding run of form with two tries. While the end scoreline was relatively close, it was 30-7 with ten minutes to go.

In Sunday’s quarterfinal against Rowan, No. 8 Eric Pierone scored three tries, including the one that basically sealed the game, and St. Pierre scored two more. But it was the determination to keep the game moving despite the cold, the rain, and the mud.

"It was a real battle in the mud, wind and snow on the frozen tundra," said Weggler. "Rowan tried to take advantage of the wind in the second half by kicking and chasing but we did not break under pressure and did a great job of ball retention." 

It wasn’t easy, but that’s going to stand the Cadets in good stead against Whitewater.

“We saw what they did to a very good Coast Guard team,” said Weggler. “They are very impressive. As a coach, I am about taking care of our business. You want to be prepared for certain things an opponent brings. But at the end of the day, you have to execute. You have to make your tackles.