“Fight, fight, inner light, kill Quakers kill. Knock ’em dead, knock ’em senseless, beat them til they reach consensus,” chanted the crowd at the men’s rugby game on Oct. 4. The men’s rugby club assembled themselves on the field against the “Mean Green” University of North Carolina-Charlotte 49ers. It was a perfect day for rugby and several Guilford students and family members of the rugby club came to support the Fighting Quakers. They were wild with anticipation from start to finish.

The 49ers certainly had their work cut out for them. The Quaker squad has been practicing non-stop, and with a lineup of experienced rugby veterans and several new members, the Quakers were ready to hit them with their best shot.

As the game progressed, there were only a few injuries. Junior Maxwell George, was kneed in the head during a ruck.

“You okay Max?” asked Kieron James, junior.

“I’m just seeing stars,” replied George.

The referee was very unpredictable when it came to making calls, and he forgot to give warnings.

Guilford scrum-half Max Kochinke, senior, was red-carded for aggressive footing in the ruck; he hadn’t made any other red-card-worthy moves and this was his first acknowledged offense. When listening to the team’s on-field conversations, destructiveness is expected.

“Where were you this summer?” asked sophomore Andrew Slater as he positioned himself on the field.

“Prison,” replied sophomore Will Dawson. Whether Dawson was serious or not is unknown.

That is the kind of conversation you can expect to hear at a rugby game, along with various jokes and cheers for the team.

Still, rugby games are a family friendly environment; Slater’s Grandma was there and junior Abel Montes de Oca’s wife and children were cheering on the team.

The amount of support that the Fighting Quakers have for each other is amazing. The strength of each player is used to the maximum and their organization and ball movement is incredible.

Sophomore David Watters, Junior Kevin Smithey, and Montes de Oca were in the front row of some of the rucks. Their strength combined with that of their team made it possible to defeat the much larger 49ers.

Rugby is certainly a physically demanding sport. Cody Martin, senior, was able to tackle a player that was at least twice his weight on the try line. This pushed the play out of bounds and the ball went to Guilford.

Tries were scored by sophomore Andrew Mancuso, senior Matthew Elverson, Slater, and several others. The Fighting Quakers won the game, 36-10, leaving them undefeated (5-0).

What’s next for men’s rugby? They will play in the North Carolina Rugby Tournament this weekend, Oct. 25 and 26.