Sports Update: JV Rugby Off to Strong Start

By Billy Malewich '12

April is a month known for crazy weather, the start of the Major League Baseball season, and Xavier spring sports being able to take their off-season work and put it on display. The JV Rugby team, led by Justin Hundley and Steven Sanchez ’09, is no exception. They have been able to take a group of sophomores and get them playing championship level rugby right out of the gate. The Xavier E-News spoke to Coach Sanchez about the start of the season, the player’s development goals, and his outlook for the rest of the season.

Xavier E-News: How does the JV team look this year?
Stephen Sanchez '09: The season is still very young, but the JV men are looking good thus far. We are currently 2-0 coming off of dominant wins against Pelham and St. Anthony's with a combined score of 105 points scored—0 points given up. They are a very attentive group of players with a lot of defensive tenacity thanks to our freshman rugby coaching staff.

E-News: How do you and the rest of the coaching staff develop the players from freshman year and prepare them for varsity?
Sanchez: Our coaching staff, led by Justin Hundley, Xavier's assistant athletic director, focuses on sharpening the foundations of what they learned during their freshman year (passing, rucking, tackling) while introducing more advanced rugby concepts, schemes, and plays. Our ultimate goal (outside of being undefeated and not giving up any tries the entire season) is to instill the culture of focus and commitment needed to thrive and push for starting spots on the varsity level.

E-News: What games left on the schedule get the players and the coaching staff excited?
Sanchez: We are looking forward to all the games left, but in particular we are excited to see how our young men do against St. Ignatius from Cleveland and of course our two games against rival Fordham Prep. The one we hope to see a lot of Xavier alumni and family gather at would be our Family Day game, which is April 29 on Randall's Island, so stay tuned for who the JV will play that day.

For information on all four Xavier Rugby teams, click here.