It's always a short and intense season for the University of Chicago men's rugby team.
With Chicago being on the quarter system, the players get on the field later than many teams in the Great Midwest. For years that meant trying to play five games in three weeks before the conference playoffs starts. But in recent years the players have collectively decided to get to school a few days earlier to make it five games in four weeks.
Ah, such luxury of time. As it is, that means they are a little undercooked at the beginning of the season and have to play a two-match weekend at some point. This year, despite graduating several experienced players, they fronted up fairly well early, beating UIC 38-14 and tying rivals Loyola 21-21.
Five days later they faced Benedictine and won 45-10 before following that up three days later with a 52-17 defeat of another in-city rival, DePaul.
So it was a little bit of a reprieve to have six whole days between games. And they needed it, taking on a very good Northwestern side on Saturday, and coming away with a 52-21 victory.
They had to learn and come together fast—four conference games in the space of 15 days. But they did it.
"We have a lot of students who come to the school from all over the world, and because of that we have guys come in who have some experience with rugby, even if it's just that they played when they were kids," said club president and flanker Mateo Rampoldi.
Rampoldi himself is from Argentina, one of 11 different nations in the team's starting 15 to face Northwestern. The USA, Argentina, Hong Kong, Uruguay, Venezuela, Estonia, Australia, New Zealand, England, Italy, and South Korea are all represented.
"It's a very international group but we come together pretty quickly," said Rampoldi.
