Members of the men’s and women’s team took part in this five-day experience. Courtesy of Ryan Ginty

When the phrase “University of Hartford rugby team” comes to mind, some might think of those wearing the red and black jackets around campus, the heavy consumers of alcohol on the weekends or the school team that isn’t the first to come to mind when you think of athletics.

Not anymore.

Instead, they refer to themselves as “savages” on and off the field, as the near-hundred men and women across campus represent the Hartford rugby team headed in the right direction on campus.

That was the past and this is the present, where old stigma’s die and new one’s are born. Under a new heading-coaching regime, the rugby program is turning over a new leaf and is looking to make their mark, not only on campus, but across the nation as a national championship is a “realistic expectation” says some of the players.

This off-season, to prepare for such a run at glory, they took their talents not to the rugby field, but to a military training base to take their conditioning to another level.

Under head coach, Ryan Ginty, who spent four years in the military, the men’s and women’s rugby program spent five days at a military facility in Niantic, Connecticut, to test their physical skill and teamwork in unique situations.

“I knew it wouldn’t be an easy experience, but I was ready for it, as were the rest of the guys who went into the camp,” said Chris Sullivan, a senior captain.

Along with 20 of the players on the men’s rugby team, nine of the women’s rugby players went as well to take on the difficult tasks at-hand to be the best in the nation.

“No one else is doing this,” said junior captain Raven Walker, “this was a huge opportunity for us and it will put us into that national championship spot this year, I’m very confident in our team this year.”

Once all of the players arrived in Niantic on Monday, Aug. 26, they checked in and instead of resting after a long day of traveling, they had to run three miles through the woods just to get to the obstacle course where they would be starting their training at the obstacle course.

“We had to do walk over rope bridges, tight rope walk, walk over moving logs, climb suspended nets, it was intense and we had to do the entire course twice and run three miles back to our base,” said senior captain Elizabeth Sauer.

“They all performed exactly as I expected throughout the week,” said head coach Ryan Ginty, “I knew it wouldn’t be easy, but they were all strong enough as a team to overcome any obstacle in their path.”

Some might find this military training excursion a bit excessive for a collegiate club Division III program to go through, but some say it was exactly what the doctor ordered from both a conditioning and teambuilding standpoint.

“We went through this whole experience together as a team and are absolutely stronger as a result. We’re more disciplined as a team now that Ginty is here and are more disciplined as a result compared to year’s past,” said junior Robbie Pohida.

As the Hartford team looks to turn over a new reputation on campus, it all starts with their new coach who is coaching the men’s team for the first time this year and the women’s for the second year in a row.

“I bring to the table a lot of knowledge and experience about the sport itself, so I can teach the guys how to actually play rugby, instead of just playing hard and not rugby,” said Ginty.

The biggest obstacle for the rugby team however is changing the common misconceptions across campus that all they do is party and occasionally play rugby on the side.

“We’re a lot more than that, we take the game itself extremely seriously and work our (butts) off day-in and day-out, but we can still have responsible fun off the field too,” said junior Dana Earle.

Coach Ginty’s players stressed that his very disciplined military background has changed the team a lot in the past year and through their boot camp experience, hopefully it will translate into a national championship when the season is over.

“We were ranked ninth in the country last year, not many teams can say that and as long as we stay focused on the goal as a team, we will win it all this year,” said Sauer.