Rugby was added as an official Olympic sport this past summer and is one of the fastest growing sports in America. But still, it’s not everyday you meet a rugby player.

Senior Devin Cornelius joined a rugby team last year after hearing how much his best friend Canyon McDonald enjoyed the sport.

“Being on a rugby team is fun,” Cornelius said. “We hit each other really hard, but after getting knocked down, someone from the other team will come over and be like ‘Hey, are you okay?’ and help you up.”

Rugby is a competitive sport similar to football, but requires no pads and has fewer rules.
“My favorite thing about rugby is scoring,” Cornelius said. “First of all, scoring is how you win, and second, it’s fun to look back and see the people you just beat.”

Last year was the first year Cornelius’ team, the Warlords, competed. They were undefeated in the state of Texas and went on to win a Texas regional tournament in San Antonio.

“We played pretty well in San Antonio,” he said. “We beat everyone there, which was a big accomplishment for us.”

Cornelius’ team also attended the invitation-only North American International 7’s tournament in Salt Lake, Utah, along with 30 other teams from across the nation.

“We did about the best we could,” Cornelius said. “We were up against people who were basically born to play rugby, and have been playing for years. We ended up placing fourth overall.”

As all successful teams do, his team puts a lot of hard work into the sport, including attending focused practices and doing difficult workouts.

“We start off with conditioning,” Cornelius said. “Then we move into scrimmages and a game we like to call ‘The Mattress Game.’ That’s where we have a 70-pound dummy that we have to run from one side of the try zone to the other.”

Like most players, Cornelius also has an individual routine that he follows to prepare for each rugby game.

“I run, workout and do specific exercises,” he said. “I also listen to music before games because music helps me focus and gets me in the zone. I like ‘Forever’ by Drake, Kanye West and Eminem.”

Since Cornelius and his teammates spend so much time together, it’s no surprise they are all close friends.

“We do loads of things together,” he said. “We all have fun messing around with each other, even though we play different sports. Our personalities enhance each other, and we’re all slightly crazy because we play rugby in the first place.”

One person Cornelius says is a big influence on his team is his coach, who is a retired Marine.

“He instills a military work ethic in us,” Cornelius said. “It’s sometimes really hard and brutal, but it’s also a lot of fun. He also plays with us sometimes, so that adds to our team cohesion.”

Cornelius is feeling hopeful now that his team has began practicing once again, and he and his teammates have many goals for this upcoming season.

“Since the International 7’s tournament, which was our last official game, we’ve had time to set some goals,” he said. “We’ve taken the strategies and plays that we learned from Utah and incorporating those into our skill set for this season.”