Villanova Rugby preps for Collegiate Rugby Championships

As the Villanova Rugby team prepares for its participation in the 2013 College Rugby Championships this weekend, VU Hoops is going to take this opportunity to look at the sport and its history on the Main Line.

Rugby sevens is a variant of traditional rugby. Teams field 7 men (instead of the traditional 15) and play shorter periods. This setup allows for open scoring and multiple games to occur in a short time period. The sport is set to be included on the Olympic schedule in Rio 2016 for the first time since 1924.

Villanova was one of the first collegiate rugby clubs in the nation, founded in 1959 by professor Francis Coghlan. The early years of Villanova Rugby saw the club as one of the premier teams in the United States, a model which the current team strives to emulate today.

There were certainly troubled moments in the club’s past, as they were removed from the university club sports hierarchy in 1999 for a variety of issues. However, ever since Villanova Rugby's reintroduction as an official club sport in the fall of 2010, the squad has been steadily improving.

Nova competes in the Mid Atlantic Rugby Conference and last year won the inaugural MARC Plate Championship, which was hosted at Villanova Stadium.

Villanova's participation in the Collegiate Championships will admittedly be a tough competition for the Wildcats; as a Division II school they will be competing against the best collegiate rugby players in America. On top of that their preparation time has been limited due to their late inclusion to the event.

The Tournament being played at PPL Park in Chester has the Wildcats playing against Navy on Friday, with continued pool play against UCLA and St. Joe's (PA) on Saturday.

Discounted tickets for the event can be purchased via the CRC Villanova Portal. Two day passes are available for only $35, a great deal for what will undoubtedly be a great weekend of rugby!

If you are unable to make it, the tournament will be broadcast during the weekend on NBC and NBC Sports.

For more information check out the team on social media.

• Villanova Rugby Football Club Facebook Page
• Twitter:@VillanovaRugby

For more information on the tournament, please see the official tournament website: www.usasevenscrc.com.