It’s 8:30 pm on a Tuesday and its 12 degrees outside. The AIC rugby team is prepping for their upcoming tournament on March 3^rd-6^th.

They were gearing up to travel to Las Vegas, Nevada in hopes of capturing their first ever Vegas Invitational and earn a bid to the CRC 7’s, which is the Collegiate Rugby Championship for 7’s.

They started with conditioning and pushing their limits in the harsh environment. They split into two groups and started different drills to test their endurance.

One drill forced an athlete to tackle and ruck multiple pads over 45 second intervals to push their will to get back up. The other drill was endless sprints with 15 second intervals of rest in between reps. “As a player, I want to be in the best possible shape for Vegas. This tournament sets the tone for the rest of the semester, just another step forward every day.”

This conditioning allows the team to be prepared for the multiple games they’ll play during their stay in Las Vegas.

The ability to push yourself, while key in 7’s, is not the only attribute you’ll need to succeed. Following the conditioning, the team practiced 3vs2 situations where teams of people had to try and score or stop the attack.

One AIC Men’s Rugby player summed up the philosophy behind the game.

“Vision is a key element to the game of rugby and these drills help breakdown the game into simpler terms. Once a concept is understood we widen the drill and begin to add more players,” said Jihad Khabir.

The drill featured strategy based on lines ran by the offense, as well as the ability to be in the right position on defense. Basketball and rugby have many similarities considering there play structure. Playing defense in 7’s rugby is a perfect example of synergy.

The team emphasis on defense has been higher than ever featuring live tackling during practice. The tackling featured in rugby isn’t the head to head contact you see in football, but rather an artful takedown of the ball carrier. The rugby tackle relies heavily on body position and angling more than that of football which is mostly brute force.

This style of tackling leads to quick tackles, which then leads to turnovers with the support of teammates. The team has been eagerly waiting to play someone other than themselves and this Las Vegas Invitational is perfect opportunity.

With the team honing their skills many of the returners are anxious for a second chance at winning a Las Vegas Invitational. Last year the team fell to Arkansas State in the Final 19-10. The team fell short, but prior to that they had ran a successful Las Vegas campaign beating Lindenwood, and Wheeling Jesuit.

You can see how this year kind of feels like their redemption year.

Junior Kurtis Werner explained it.

“Last year woke us up, having a tough loss in the final at Sam Boyd Stadium really showed us how bad we want to be hoisting the cup at the end in front of all those people,” Werner said.

These final weeks of preparation are very important for the team to come out as the top contender.

One obstacle the team has to overcome is outside forces such as the weather, which seems like it might do all it can to stop teams from practicing outside on the turf whether it’s the buildup of ice on the turf or the temperature has dropped below NCAA regulations.

Although adversity is not something new to AIC’s rugby team. Check social media for results during the tournament days just search AIC Rugby just about anywhere.