Fall season gets underway Saturday
The Gamecocks are hoping to ride the momentum of an excellence Spring 7s campaign and banner recruiting class into the Fall campaign as the team kicks off the season at the Citadel Saturday.
The team's B-side will play at 11 a.m. followed by the A-side at 1 and C-side at 2:30. All games will be played on the Citadel's parade ground.
Last fall the team, under the direction of new head coach John Roberts, completed the Fall season with a 3-4, record, which included lopsided losses to SCRC rivals Tennessee, Kentucky, and Clemson.
But much has changed since then.
The Gamecocks fairly shocked the rugby community this Spring by capturing the 2022 SCRC Spring 7s championship, defeating Clemson three times, and completing the USA Rugby and CRC national championship tournaments with a 6-3 record.
To boot, UofSC put a bow on Roberts’ first recruiting class that includes 19 first-year players. Among that group are representatives from some of the top high school programs in the nation including Gonzaga, Loyola Blakefield, Staples, St., Johns and LaSalle.
Those compliment a Gamecock squad that lost only two starters to graduation. UofSC also onboarded four new coaches to instruct a growing roster that now includes more than 50 players. Seven of those new additions – Jack Edwards, Erik Elken, Jack Chelley (an international exchange student from Scotland), Nick Dubois, Grant Ruhlen, Pierson Braddock (a former football walk on) and Matt Morrow are likely to get A-side time Saturday at the Citadel.
The Gamecocks also got an early start on training. The team arrived on campus a week before classes started for two-a-day training seasons and presentations.
“The team is brimming with optimism,” said Roberts. “Across the board we are more talented and deeper. We are much farther along than we were last year.”
The Gamecocks return several outstanding players who played a large role in the team’s Spring success: scrumhalf, Jack Van Vliet, prop Gavin Bennet and center Dan Golden among them.
“There was a big gap between the Gamecocks and the SCRC power three programs – Tennessee, Clemson and Kentucky – last fall,” said Roberts. “We have a very strong conference and are aiming to close that gap this fall. Each season is a new journey.”
And that journey begins Saturday.
The Gamecocks are hoping to ride the momentum of an excellence Spring 7s campaign and banner recruiting class into the Fall campaign as the team kicks off the season at the Citadel Saturday.
The team's B-side will play at 11 a.m. followed by the A-side at 1 and C-side at 2:30. All games will be played on the Citadel's parade ground.
Last fall the team, under the direction of new head coach John Roberts, completed the Fall season with a 3-4, record, which included lopsided losses to SCRC rivals Tennessee, Kentucky, and Clemson.
But much has changed since then.
The Gamecocks fairly shocked the rugby community this Spring by capturing the 2022 SCRC Spring 7s championship, defeating Clemson three times, and completing the USA Rugby and CRC national championship tournaments with a 6-3 record.
To boot, UofSC put a bow on Roberts’ first recruiting class that includes 19 first-year players. Among that group are representatives from some of the top high school programs in the nation including Gonzaga, Loyola Blakefield, Staples, St., Johns and LaSalle.
Those compliment a Gamecock squad that lost only two starters to graduation. UofSC also onboarded four new coaches to instruct a growing roster that now includes more than 50 players. Seven of those new additions – Jack Edwards, Erik Elken, Jack Chelley (an international exchange student from Scotland), Nick Dubois, Grant Ruhlen, Pierson Braddock (a former football walk on) and Matt Morrow are likely to get A-side time Saturday at the Citadel.
The Gamecocks also got an early start on training. The team arrived on campus a week before classes started for two-a-day training seasons and presentations.
“The team is brimming with optimism,” said Roberts. “Across the board we are more talented and deeper. We are much farther along than we were last year.”
The Gamecocks return several outstanding players who played a large role in the team’s Spring success: scrumhalf, Jack Van Vliet, prop Gavin Bennet and center Dan Golden among them.
“There was a big gap between the Gamecocks and the SCRC power three programs – Tennessee, Clemson and Kentucky – last fall,” said Roberts. “We have a very strong conference and are aiming to close that gap this fall. Each season is a new journey.”
And that journey begins Saturday.