No. 1 Kentucky rugby is set to host No. 5 Tennessee at the UK intramural fields in what is perhaps the largest regular season hurdle in the Wildcats’ campaign for back-to-back national championships.
The Wildcats currently sit at 3-0 on the season after most recently defeating Alabama 46-5 on the road.
“Seven scores is always a good day, but we are still not up to standard,” head coach Sam Enari said following the win. “We had some debutants and they availed themselves well. We are still No. 1 on all polls as we prepare for Tennessee. Our biggest takeaway is that, under adversity, we can still put points on the board.”
Enari also emphasized the importance of the matchup against the Vols.
“It will likely be a preview of the conference final,” he said. “We are not yet perfect.”
While Enari’s words may seem harsh considering the lopsided nature of the win, it’s a testament to the heightened level of the program this season, especially after reaching the mountaintop last season.
“Coming back after a victory like that, you know everyone is looking at you,” veteran captain Jack Phillips said. “Every other team is like, ‘Alright, well, we want a shot at the national champions.’ I think everyone from our coach down to new players really embrace it. We take pride in it and take every game as serious as the next whether it be an unranked opponent or a top 10 ranked opponent.”
To Phillips’ point, the Wildcats have certainly been the top dogs this season, sitting atop the rankings as the defending champions after conquering, of all teams, Louisville in the Division-I AA National Championship.
The Cats kicked off their 2024 campaign with a win over Illinois before taking down Marian University, avenging their only loss from last year’s championship campaign.
“Obviously winning a national championship, you have to play good to do that,” club president and center Chester Hale said. “But this year we’re focusing on really fine tuning things and perfecting our game. We did a pretty good job, but we want to always strive to be better than that.”
Coming off the back of winning the big one, the Cats, like all college teams, were due for roster turnover, but in proving that this is a strong program and not just a good team that lucked into a good year, the loss of five premier starting players has not set UK back to the degree it would set back most others.
“A huge loss for the program in both physicality and overall knowledge, but we’ve in-turn replaced that with youth and experience,” Phillips said. “As we build on that knowledge and work on perfecting and critiquing what we did last year, it’s going to benefit us a lot to be able to say, ‘Okay, we were here and it worked. Let’s build on that.’”
While losing players is an inevitability, it is Kentucky’s ability to pick up right where it left off that makes it such a special program in the collegiate rugby sphere.
“I think it can be hard as a club sport to build that culture, but I think we’ve done a good job of that,” Hale said. “I think we really focus on solidifying everyone, being well-rounded and, not only encouraging guys to be better rugby players, but better students and better men. We have a mentor program where freshmen are paired with upperclassmen to encourage them outside of rugby as well as on the field.”
Phillips emphasized Hale’s point.
“You get to a point in your college rugby career where it’s like, ‘How do I want to leave the program?’” Phillips said. “We’ve always had this sort of staple of ‘Leave it better than when you got there.’ For me personally, I take a lot of responsibility in making sure that when I’m gone, the culture and the family aspect of our team is still there and strong.”
Kentucky’s ability to establish its culture is made even more impressive when considering, due to its club nature, the Cats have to compete with the likes of California, which boasts a varsity program and recruits players from all across the world.
In spite of that, the Wildcats have managed to consistently put together strong rosters with elite players, including Phillips, a National Player of the Year nominee and All American, and other former All Americans, one with experience with the U20 United States National Team.
With the contest against the Vols being the biggest home match of the year for the club, both Hale and Phillips also emphasized the love they’ve received from members of Big Blue Nation and the support the rugby club has received.
“We’re really hoping to pack the sidelines and get it pretty rowdy because I think rugby is not only great to play, it’s fun to watch,” Hale said. “Even if you don’t know much about it, it’s such a great environment and (people) pick it up pretty quick.”
Kentucky rugby will host the Tennessee Volunteers tonight, Friday, Oct. 4, with the developmental side beginning play at 5 p.m. ET and the premier side taking the field at 7 p.m. ET.
As the Wildcats look to remain undefeated on the season, any student that comes to the match and checks in with their linkblue ID will be put in the running for a $50 Target gift card.
