Rice has history on its side
By Dave Surico
The yin and yang of sport dictates that with the glory of victory also comes the burden of expectations.
No club in the iYRA feels that more acutely than Brother Rice, which has won six Tier 1 titles.
Time will tell whether the weight of history will help or hurt the Crusaders. The clock starts Monday when the beasts of the east play the final Tier 1 quarterfinal against four-seed Waubonsie Valley at 5:30 p.m. at the Chicago Blaze facility in Lemont.
"The past is in the past. The only thing I worry about is that the guys put too much pressure on themselves," said coach Brian Gilmartin. "The high school rugby game is getting better. The players are learning at a faster rate. I've been around since the beginning in Illinois and you can see the evolution of the game.
"Our opponents are getting better. So it's going to be harder and harder for Rice to maintain that leadership as time goes on. As much as we'd like to think we're going to be the big dog in the yard for the next 10 years, it's going to be consistently harder to do that."
That said, Gilmartin likes his chances.
"This year I think we have one of the best teams Rice has ever had from a balance perspective," he said. "The top 15-18 guys across the spectrum are probably as
good as Brother Rice has ever had. It's easy for me to be coach there."
The teams' preseason meeting yielded a 35-5 Crusader victory.
"I'm making sure that they don't take anything for granted," said Gilmartin. "Physically we're fine. The thing is we haven't played since Naperville, which is essentially a two-week layoff. That worries me a little bit."
Inside center Pat Sullivan, outside center Conor Healy, and wings Danny Harrington and Michael Lynch will likely be the guys who put the points on the board for Rice.
Waubonsie Valley comes at the game from a different perspective.
"We're happy to be in the playoffs. It'll be a tough game, let's put it that way," chuckled coach Bob McNeel. "We lost 12 of 15 starters from last season (Tier 2 champions). We had more room for improvement than most teams. The guys have grown throughout the season and hopefully we'll give them a little tougher match this time."
Flankers Mike and Matt Salvo, fullback Jeremy Fuhs and scrum half Eddie Smith will pace Waubonsie.
"We've gotten them fired up,"McNeel said. "They've been training harder than normal. The way we look at it is we've got nothing to lose. We've got no pressure on us. If we lose it's no big deal. If we win it's a huge deal."
