This week I got the chance to sit down with rugby players Chris Zhao '13 and Matt Robinson '13 to discuss their offseason training, the spring season and the team's spring break trip to the Cayman Islands.
You guys are both off this term. How do you stay in shape to prepare for the spring season?
MR: We are following an offseason training regiment, including lifts and some agility work. Since we're both off this term (Chris in New York and myself in Boston), we have to do the workouts by ourselves, but we both do our best to get ready for the spring. The program is put together by our strength coaches Mitt Long and Darren Mustin. The program will have us ready to hit the ground running this spring.
CZ: There are a few rugby guys in New York for the off-term, so we try to train together when our work schedules allow it. Christian Fisch ['13], Chris MacNaughton ['13] and Justin Ciambella ['13] are some of the guys I see a lot, and we push each other to make sure we can perform at the top of our game this spring.
Chris, you were sidelined most of the fall season with a wrist injury. How do you see your comeback this spring going?
CZ: It was extremely tough being injured for most of the season after breaking my right wrist towards the end of summer. It was my dominant hand, so I used the opportunity to get much better with my left. I'm pretty much ambidextrous these days, and that's beneficial for rugby and other activities. It will be tough to get right back into it this spring, but I think I'll be able to make a strong comeback, and I'm more than excited.
The Ivy League season takes place in the fall, right? What does the spring rugby season constitute?
MR: The season traditionally starts out with our Spring Tour. This year, we are going to the Cayman Islands. The second weekend in April we play the Ivy Championships, which is 15s rugby. If we win the Ivies, we go to the national tournament. After that, it's a lot of sevens tournaments to prepare for the National Sevens. We won the tournament last year, so we're hoping to repeat that this year.Tell me a little more about Spring Tour. It sounds like quite a trip.
CZ: The first rule of Tour is you don't talk about Tour but in all seriousness, it's one of the club traditions. It's a great opportunity for team bonding and preparing for the season. A lot of sophomores and juniors are off in the winter, so it reunites the team. We have six scheduled games in the Cayman Islands this year, so it's a good test to see where people fit in and what the lineup going into the spring will be. After a long winter, it will be great to get some color on the beach. Last year the team went to the Barbados, and our freshman year it was to Texas, Arkansas and Tennessee. To say I'm excited for Tour is an understatement.
What's your favorite pre-game ritual?
CZ: I hit the Bagel Basement if I can get up in time. I'll order my sausage bagel no veggies. Those mornings are sort of a hip-hop mood for me, so I throw on some Gucci Mane or Yo Gotti. [MacNaughton] always sends me some good tunes for getting pumped up before games.
MR: I need to shower before any game. Then I hop in the red Honda Civic, pick up Harry Hawkins ['13] and roll to the Co-op for a big Gatorade and light snack. That's pretty much it. The post-game rituals are the most important.
Last winter, you guys roomed together while studying abroad in Australia. How does rugby over there compare to rugby here?
CZ: We were both in Sydney last winter with a couple of other ruggers. Our coach put us in touch with a team over there at Sydney University. We got to meet a bunch of interesting people and learn a lot about local culture. The level of competition was very high, since rugby is such a big part of Australian life. We were able to keep up with them at their preseason practices. It was also a great opportunity to experience a different coaching perspective.
MR: Sydney was awesome. It was probably 10 of the best weeks of my life. We got to see a lot of Australia and East Asia. One of the best memories was going to a temple in Thailand and leading a full-grown tiger on a leash. We couldn't have asked for a better off-term.