Rugby players from Durham University in the UK will play an exhibition game in Santa Maria on June 10. They’ll match up against a team of all-stars pulled from the rugby clubs at UCSB and Cal Poly. The kickoff will be at 5:30 p.m. in Rotary Centennial Park.
Julie Villalobos, who with her husband is co-president of the Central Coast Sharks Youth Rugby Club, thinks that the exhibition game may be the first of its kind.
“It’s the first time that any sport on the Central Coast has been able to bring any kind of international game. We’ve gone through article after article and cannot find another. The game is with United Kingdom’s Durham University. They are ranked in the top 10 in England,” she said.
Alex Keay, the coach for Durham, expects the game will be “fast and furious.” Many on the Durham side will be freshmen, he said, and some “may go on to be international players.”
Keay said Durham is one of the top rugby teams in the UK. They’ve taken the national championship there not one but three times. “We also play and beat regularly the famous Oxford and Cambridge universities,” he said. “If you have never been to a game before, student rugby is some of the most exciting—speed and huge collisions. Try it, and you’ll be hooked.”
James Tesoriero, head coach of the Cal Poly team, said that Durham will bring tough competition. “The team has a reputation for being extremely strong,” he said. “They collect a lot of the English schoolboy players. They’ve won three out of the last five of the English university competitions.”
The chance to play against an “elite international opponent,” he said, will make for a good show. “It’ll be one of the more high quality games that people will see on the Central Coast, and it will be entertaining for all.”
The free event is aimed at promoting rugby and raising awareness of the sport. Coaches, players, and parents will be available to explain the action on the sidelines. Moreover, the Shark’s Villalobos said she hopes the exhibition game will offer a chance for those unfamiliar with the game to learn about the customs and culture associated with it.
“Not only do these players love the game, they have tradition. And the traditions are followed continuously, even at a professional level. One tradition is after the game the players from both teams get together and sit down and eat together,” Villalobos said.
Asked if the post-game celebration would feature the bawdy and obscene singing for which rugby is famous, Villalobos said “I can’t guarantee there won’t be.”
Andrew Early, a former center and current assistant coach for the Cal Poly team who’ll be playing in the game, struck a welcoming note in anticipation.
“They’re here traveling to have a good time, and we’re going to show them that on the pitch and off,” he said. “It gets heated, but at the end of it you shake hands and typically go and have a pint with them afterwards.”
The Central Coast all-star team will put forward two sides of 15 players each. The bulk will be from Cal Poly and UCSB; more players will come from the SLO and Santa Barbara rugby clubs, as well as a smattering of smaller colleges and teams.
The Central Coast Sharks Youth Rugby Club is Santa Maria’s youth rugby organization. Players are split into four age groups: under 10, under 12, under 14, and a high school team. They play against clubs from San Luis Obispo, Santa Ynez, Santa Barbara, and Ventura.
Villalobos, who comes from a football background, said she’s seen fewer injuries in her two years with Central Coast Sharks than she did in a single season of football. She attributes this to a fundamental difference between football and rugby—although both are rough, intense-contact sports, rugby is played without pads and prescribes a different style of tackling.
“Because there are no pads on our kids, the tackling style is very different. You hit off to the side, and you use your arms to bring the player down,” she said. “You don’t use your head. The kids have got a different style of tackling, of running and hitting, so that way there are less injuries. We still have injuries, but I’ve only seen one concussion.”
Tesoriero, the coach for Cal Poly, expects a tough match with plenty of tackles and hits. He expected that the California players will put up a good fight.
“All of these guys who come on this tour will have a really strong background in rugby with eight to 10 years’ experience,” he said. “But we have also put together an experienced group from the Central Coast, and we’ll have to be on top of our game.”
Contact Staff Writer Sean McNulty at smcnulty@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Jun 4-11, 2015.