What would you say about a D1 american rugby team with the following?

Bill P is on to some important points, but part of this is a strictly American issue. Maybe Rugbyidiot can help us with a detail: when you say D1, do you mean Club D1 or university. My guess is Club, and that's the way I will answer.

A key point is that you refer to your organization as a "team". Sure, a team lines up and plays its best. But your problems are organizational, and the solution lies in developing a Rugby Football Club. The *Club* includes not only the active players, but also the administrators, coaches, trainers, and all the supporters, most importantly the Old Boys. You need to have a Club in order to succeed as a playing team. Plus, it's just more fun, and is a critical element of the Rugby Union tradition.

Building a Club is no small matter, and in my experience in the States is a matter of substantial time - I mean several years, anyway. You can get guidance on this from your local-area or regional union, and - again in my experience - your Club officers can informally approach other Clubs in yoru LAU and seek collegial advice. Rugby players are outgoing guys, and you often can depend on their love for the game (especially among the senior Old Boys who will dominate Administration to provide the sort of generosity in guidance that you need.

In the middle 1990s my Club (I was a senior Club administrator and also an Old Boy) went through a patch something like you describe. We elected to pull back, reorganize the Old Boys into a more effective force, drop the competitive team back to D2, and look for overall improvement as the key to moving back up to D1. By dropping back to D2, we developed a reputation for excellence (went to National Playoffs 4 years in a row) that allowed us to recruit, generate sufficient funds to pay for a coach, bla, blah, blah. We moved back up to D1, and have been to the D1 national playoffs 2 of the last 4 years.

Another route you could go would be to consolidate with another club that is also organizationally weak, and see if the combined resources allow you the real basis needed to excel at D1 level. I know of several Clubs that have done this in the States, and done so successfully.

Best of luck.

Mark L

No doubt someone is going to take this opportunity to diss whatever competition they believe is "inferior". That said, we can avoid the issue altogether by noting that the SH competitions are wrapping up at the moment, so for the time being you are limited to the European Leagues. Its tough to get the French Top-14 games on an English language station, but if you can, Biarritz Olympique plays an exciting fast-paced game. The other two top-level European competitions are the English Premiership and the Magners League. In the Premiership, Leinster Tigers are an exciting club, while Saracens (which has a large South African contingent) gives some SH flair. In the Magners League, and seeing as you are an O'Driscoll fan, you are going to want to follow Leinster. And then all of the top European clubs play each other every year in the Heineken Cup, which is the European club championship. Any of those games will be worth catching. Come next February the Super-15 will get going south of the equator. Canterbury Crusaders always like to play a wide open running style. They also have Dan Carter and Richie McCaw, the world's two best known players.

Sounds like many a rugby CLUB in the US. Will probably need the goal posts--for sure and a commitment from players to stay involved. Why not take the lead and make the club you wanna see happen. Leave it as a Legacy to your school. Authority is taken not given. Be the change you want to see in your team.

Different story here. The councils look after grounds and provide posts and ground markings. We relied on generous supporters to pay the council on our behalf.

Our team had one set of guernseys and that was it, no numbers. As a breakaway, my jumper often got ripped. That meant taking it home and sewing it (no wife in those days). Monies came from registration fees.

We often trained with half a dozen players and hoped the rest would turn up on the day. We made the GF and the coach was trolling the ground to get gear in case one of us got hurt (we won and he didn't have to play). Replacement players meant new people coming into town, teachers, bank johnnies and hope they were rugby players.

Those were the good old days.

are you a college team? If so, you should appeal to your school for money for a coach. I think a coach is really what you need, so start looking for one who is willing to volunteer/work cheaply. have fundraisers. 25 players is plenty if they're dedicated - as your program builds, so will your numbers. getting organized is key - do you have a group who is willing to take charge? a coach would really help with this - ours has turned our team around.