The view from the Woods

The Queen’s men’s football team is having a season to remember. With running back Mike Giffin breaking records and the Gaels’ defence looking increasingly invincible, they are receiving accolades from all directions, and rightfully so.
But I’d like to draw attention to a team accomplishing great things with much less fanfare: the men’s rugby team.
Fans too lazy to walk all the way to Richardson Stadium on Saturday afternoons have been treated to some dominant performances by the rugby team. The team has steamrolled their way to a 5-1 record and first place in the OUA. Their only loss was on the road to Brock University, and that was due to a week off, a long road trip, and an overall lack of focus. Since then, the team has outscored their opponents 57-13, including a 41-0 whitewash of RMC last Saturday.
At the professional level, football is much more accessible to North Americans than rugby. For this reason, I was a rugby neophyte for most of my life. But after having grown accustomed to the game (although I still don’t understand some of its horrendously complicated rules), I can say it’s quite a treat to watch the Queen’s team play.
The Gaels are fast, hard-hitting, well-disciplined and entertaining to watch. Captain James Potter seems to have this innate ability to run at full speed from one end of the field to the other and somehow end up right at the spot where an unsuspecting opponent is carrying the ball to deliver a bone-crunching hit. Potter’s fellow centre Steve Shortly needs four opponents to bring him down, while a number of the Gaels’ backs have great speed and use it well.
Coach Peter Huigenbos seems to have the game down to a science. His team is disciplined and rarely strays from its game plan, but there is nonetheless room for improvisation, which makes the game all the more entertaining.
What makes rugby fun to watch is that unlike other contact sports, there is a lack of significant equipment. Without a helmet the game becomes much more personal, and one feels much more involved when you can see the players’ faces and interactions more closely.
This weekend likely won’t be Queen’s fans last chance to watch the rugby team. They’re slated to host a semifinal game next weekend, and they’ll only lose to Trent on Saturday if someone pays off the referee. But if Richardson Stadium is too far or you can’t scrounge five bucks, it’s worth knowing that there’s an outstanding alternative.