Charlotte Shields-Rossi | staff writer

Ty Miller picked up rugby as a way to stay active in college, and his love for the game stuck.

When David Cano, a Duquesne student, asked him to coach the university’s new rugby club, he accepted, wanting to get more involved in the rugby world again.

“I like the idea of coaching this group of guys because we would really be building the program from the ground up,” Miller said. “What I like about being a coach is seeing the quick day-to-day improvements. One of the benefits of starting a program with younger, less-experienced players is that you can really see them connect the dots as you go through your training sessions.”

Cano played rugby throughout high school, and thought it might be fun to bring the sport to Duquesne. After getting his friend, Ethan Hoffert, to help him start the program and finding a coach, Duquesne’s Rugby Club officially started this spring semester. The goal of the club is to promote the sport and create a space where the players can have fun, Cano said.

In rugby, each team’s goal is to touch the oval-shaped ball to the ground of the opponent’s in-goal area. Players may move the ball by kicking, carrying or passing it. This semester, the team is playing “sevens,” seen in the Summer Olympics, where each team has seven players, and the game is broken into two 7-minute halves. Once they get more players on the team they hope to begin playing the more standard “union”, which is 15-on-15. The game consists of strategy, requiring players to communicate and work well together, Cano said.

“The easiest way to explain it is [that] it is like football and soccer,” Cano said. “That’s how you explain it to people that have never played before.”

Hoffert said he is most excited about the team aspect and strong relationships that will be created. After talking to people who have played rugby through the years, he realized most players are still in contact with their former teammates, often still having a strong connection.

“I’m just excited to meet new people and get to know the people on the team better, we have a lot of great guys that have come out so far, so I’m excited to just connect with people through that,” Hoffert said. “Rugby is a great bonding sport … It’s an opportunity for people to come out and meet lifelong friends.”

As the coach, Miller wants to do more than just teach the men on the team how to be good players.

“One of the things that’s important to me is a focus on developing them as players and mentoring them as young men of good character, a lot of it is the mentorship aspect,” he said.

Miller has played rugby for more than 10 years, including after graduating college when he began playing for the Pittsburgh Harlequins, a Pittsburgh rugby club. In fact, Miller got his first job from the connections he created playing the game.

“It’s an excellent networking tool, and like I said before it’s a character-building tool, it helps the guys get a sense of purpose outside academics,” Miller said.

The rugby team can be found on McCloskey Field Tuesday and Thursday night for practice. The players warm up, work on the essential rugby skills and simulate playing a game. The team also has multiple tournaments in the coming weeks against West Virginia University, Case Western University and John Carroll University.

“The expectation for me is not that we would be a winning championship team the first year, but I expect the Duquesne players to behave and compete as if they are a championship team,” Miller said. “I do expect them to play to win.”