The New Kid on the Block

Ruben Nyul

The Dalat community is a very welcoming one. Last Friday, the “new kid on the block” presented himself for everyone to see. By ‘the new kid on the block,’ I mean the recently added sport into Dalat Athletics: rugby. A few courageous individuals remained on the team after weeks of hard, physical practices. Some had to drop out of the team given the physicality that the sport requires.

At the weekly All Hands On Deck announcements, it had been announced that the first ever rugby game in Dalat history was to be played on Friday, November 16, 2018 on Upper Field: the Blue Dalat team versus the Yellow team, an inter-squad scrimmage. The hype was unreal and later justified. The varsity basketball team postponed its practice so that the team could watch the rugby game. The sidelines were so packed with spectators that it was hard to walk around and find the right spot to watch the game. This was the most packed I have ever seen Upper Field in my six years of attending Dalat.

The game was about to begin; no one was prepared for what was about to happen. The yellow team kicked off by Hudson Morgan (11), captain for the Blue team. The first play of open scrimmage was Morgan running right into and through Gavin Zimmer (11). The crowd was shell-shocked; there were bodies flying everywhere. Never before had we seen something so intense and so physical. Gabe Frohlich (10) said, “The first play of the game was a slap to the face of the crowd”, indicating that no one was ready for that type of intensity and physicality.

Unfortunately, during the game, there were a couple of injuries; some were bigger than others. Trevor Ronning (12) cut the left side of his head, with blood dripping down his face. This was the first taste of real rugby the whole audience got. Regardless, when asked how he felt about the game and why he was looking forward to the rest of the season, he said, “I love the intensity and pace of the game, as well as the warrior spirit I feel when I play rugby.”

A couple of minutes later,  Nathan Chand (12) also went down with a broken collarbone, proving that rugby is not a sport for the fainthearted, but rather for the tough and competitive.

Luke Lindsey (11) ended up stealing the show, as he led the Yellow team to victory and earned himself the first ever Man of The Match award for the Dalat rugby program. The first match certainly lived up to its expectation and left the crowd asking for more at the end of the game. The first ever Dalat rugby game proved that this sport is here to stay for good in the Athletics program.