By Kiley O’Donnell
Sports Assignment Editor
The St. Bonaventure University men’s rugby team is in the middle of its spring season, where it plays matches in the form of sevens.
A much quicker and fast-paced game compared to the regular form of fifteens played in the fall season consisting of 40 minute halves and 15 players, sevens only consists of seven minute halves with seven players representing each team on the field.
Graduate student Patrick Hogan, a captain from Orchard Park, New York, has been playing for the program since his freshman year. He talked about the key differences between sevens and fifteens.
“In the fall season, when we play fifteens, we will go each weekend and play one team, so we kind of prep for one team per week in the fall season,” said Hogan. “For sevens, we will never go and play one team. A school will host a tournament where it can range from 12 to 60 teams.”
Since the team plays numerous other opponents at tournaments during the spring season, it tends to focus more on itself rather than keying in on one opponent like the fall season, said Hogan.
“Seven minutes during sevens doesn’t seem long at all, but we have to prepare to be there all day and play about six of those games. Each one is pretty much a sprint for 14 minutes,” said Hogan. “We have to focus more on ourselves and get ready to play about four to five different teams from anywhere in the nation.”
The team currently plays in the Rugby East conference of Division 1A college rugby. During the fall season, it plays local teams like Buffalo, West Virginia and Penn State, according to Hogan.
During the spring season, however, the team is able to travel across the country and play teams it would not get the opportunity to in the fall.
“Something I like more about sevens is we could play teams from anywhere at different tournaments,” said Hogan. “The last tournament we went to we played teams like Montana, Colorado and Western Michigan. They’re teams we wouldn’t normally face in the fall season, so it’s cool to be able to play teams like them that we wouldn’t normally play.”
Since Hogan has been playing for the team since his freshman year, he said he’s been to a lot of interesting places thanks to the program.
“Another cool thing about sevens is that we get to travel to a lot of different places,” said Hogan. “We just got back from the Las Vegas Invitational, which was really fun. A few years ago, we went to Virginia Beach. Last year we went to the national championships in North Carolina. If we go this year, it’ll be in Colorado.”
Hogan also discussed the strategies that go into sevens that would not necessarily happen in the fall season while playing fifteens.
“It’s definitely more endurance intensive, whereas fifteens is a slower-paced game. In sevens, you’re sprinting for seven minutes at a time on a full field,” said Hogan. “It gives the smaller guys in rugby a chance because it’s faster and they tend to be more agile and quick. They have more opportunities to make bigger things happen.”
He also mentioned the importance of points during a tournament, because in the end, he said it could make or break a second place finish.
“Our mentality is to always remained focused and keep our composure but at the same time to have a sense or urgency. When it comes to sevens tournaments, if you don’t come in first place, the second place team is decided based on point differentials,” said Hogan.
The rugby team will be home on March 18 against the South Buffalo Irish. The start time has not been set.
odonneke16@bonaventure.edu
