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Ruggers looking for luck Down Under

At the close of a fall season that saw the Terriers fumble their way to a 1-6 record, first-year Boston University men’s rugby coach Steve Taylor knew he had just the remedy.

He presented his team with an offer that was as much a grand opportunity as it was a suggestion: travel halfway around the world to learn from the best in the world.

From this seemingly idealistic offer, BU made use of all the right contacts to make a Spring Break trip to the home of rugby in New Zealand reality. With half of the team already en route to the Pacific island nation, the remaining players finished up midterms yesterday to embark on the first tour for a BU rugby squad in seven years.

Upon arrival, the Terriers will have to do their best to pretend jetlag is overrated before watching, meeting and taking on what is often regarded as the world’s highest level of rugby competition.

Of the 24 players making the trip, more than half are freshmen or second-year players who formed the ‘B’ squad that finished the fall with a respectable 3-3-1 record.

“The No. 1 reason we’re going is to learn the game from the people and place that know it best,” said vice-captain Matt Cox.

Over the course of nine days, BU will participate in training programs with their host clubs, including Carlton Grammar Club and Auckland University in the capital, a native Maori squad in Rotorua, and Massey University in Palmerston North.

Taylor believes the best part of the trip will be the training sessions at the rugby academy in Palmerston North, located near Wellington.

“Twelve hours there is better than five years of playing in New England,” said Taylor, a native of Zimbabwe who will make his first visit to New Zealand.

The trip may restrict the Terriers to the North Island, but that’s not to say they won’t be busy. BU will attend rugby matches of the top teams in the leagues of New Zealand and fit in some tourist time with stopovers in the adventure-crazy town of Taupo and the picturesque volcano region surrounding National Park.

“Everyone is very excited,” said freshman standout Nick Banks, an Australian native and one of two players who has been to New Zealand. “We’ve been practicing three or four times a week and been up at seven in the morning to run. Everyone wants to be ready for it.”

Taylor, an ardent rugby fan and player with a local team, was shocked to find that BU hadn’t been on a tour in seven years when he was hired as coach. He wanted to change that.

“They’re just not going to get better a) playing in America and b) playing a seven-game season,” Taylor said.

So he presented the idea in November, but it wasn’t until one month later that schedules came together and connections were pursued.

As a club sport, the team knew that it was on its own to raise nearly $50,000 and piece together an itinerary in less than three months.

Donations came quick and often: $6,000 from alumni, in particular a former player whose father owns a construction company in Brazil; $7,000 from team member Fahad Hareb’s father; and a sponsorship from Monster.com set up through another player’s father. Logos of the two companies will appear on BU’s jerseys during the tour.

The players were also asked to contribute $800 each and some even exceeded the mark.

Meanwhile, BU alum Chris Randall handled the scheduling, setting up the homestays with local rugby academies and tourist activities.

The team also received help from former coach Mark Winder, who envisioned bringing an American team to rugby’s home would promote more worldwide interest in the sport.

Tours are popular in the sport of rugby, and team captain Greg Presso along with Cox — both juniors — took well to Taylor’s idea that the best way to improve BU’s game was to play the best.

“We have a lot of raw talent. These [New Zealand] clubs are talking about 100-point matches, so the games aren’t the whole reason we’re going down there,” Cox said. “We’ll come back and be a much better team because of it.”

“As far as I’m concerned, I don’t care about the results,” Banks said. “It’s the learning experience that counts.”

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