After upsetting two No. 1 seeds in the opening rounds of the national tournament on May 18–19, the Stampede look to be the underdog once again, something they have taken in stride, as they compete in the Final Four.
“Just being a younger club here in little Saratoga, we’re off the radar of most people,” said Saratoga Ruby co-captain Stephen Aguglia.
Next up for the New England RFU champions is the Oceanside Chiefs (California), a team that scored 43 points in both its first two tournament games against Sierra Foothills (California) and the Wichita Barbarians.
“They’re a big team, but they’re also physically strong as well as athletic,” said co-captain Rob Michelin. “We really want to match that physicality even if we’re not as big.”
With Southern California being a hotbed for rugby, Aguglia has recognized the Chiefs “warrior mindset.”
“They definitely try to pull the intimidation factor, but we’re just not fazed by that kind of stuff,” Aguglia said.
The Stampede started off the USA Round of 16 in Virginia Beach by taking down Philadelphia-Whitemarsh, 28-19. After a one hour rain delay, the Stampede battled the conditions and capitalized on Whitemarsh’s turnovers, keeping the pressure on them throughout.
“That was probably the best rugby that I’ve ever seen us play, in terms of playing consistently as a team,” Michelin said. “We were very spot on and very advantageous of what the other team was doing.”
The Stampede dominated the possession game in the first half to the point where Michelin said, “There were times when we really didn’t even know what to do with the ball,” Michelin said. “Just because our phases and strategy was working so well that we started to institute more of a loose play where we could get the ball out to our back line so they could really work with it.”
“At this level, most teams we’re going to be playing against are pretty dangerous, so one of the best tactics we have against them is maintaining possession,” Aguglia said.
Saratoga went on to advance by taking down Hilton Head Island 30-14 on Sunday afternoon, a game that may not have been as close but featured a “slugfest” game of adrenaline against a bigger group off less than 14 hours of rest.
The Stampede capitalized on points in the second game, kicking for three points consistently and being up early 15-7 just off kicks, led by flyhalf Trent Jackson who was “instrumental and accurate” in the windy conditions.
“When we won the second game, you would have thought we just won the Super Bowl,” said Michelin, who had trouble removing his gear because of all the hand shakes, hugs and compliments being passed around. “It might not have been as important to a team that has gone two, three, four years in a row, but we were the closest we have ever been…It’s the atmosphere that’s causing us to win.”
Playing back-to-back games was something the Stampede prepared for in the exhibition season by running training sessions after their games on Saturdays. The concept was instilled by coach Jaco Visser. Visser and coach Brian White have been watching as much film as possible on upcoming teams, Michelin said, as most of the 28-man roster left for the high altitudes in Glendale on Thursday.
As the Stampede advance to the program’s highest level since it was founded in 2006, they are focusing on players sticking to their individual tasks, as they try to maintain a “psychological razor focus.”
“Our game is very much predicated on everyone doing their own piece of the puzzle in order to win,” Michelin said. “We didn’t bring in a lot of guys with a ton of skill individually, but we have found a lot of people around Saratoga and even people farther out. They’re passionate about the game, but more so they’re great teammates. And that’s way more important in terms of winning on a national level.”
The culmination of the last year, going undefeated in the regular season and pushing the program to new boundaries, has the Stampede in a “no regrets” mindset with nothing to lose.
Aguglia has been with the team for the past two years and has seen all but a handful of the roster join. From back when the team played in Division II to where they are now, he has seen Saratoga Rugby persevere first hand through the growing pains
He has seen the team go forward in a “rebirth and new phase of success.”
“The truth is that is takes quite a bit of sacrifice and a lot of dedication and certainly it took a matter of execution to get to this point. There’s no guarantee that we will be here again. It’s just an amazing opportunity…We’re all trying to embrace the moment and make the best of it.”
The Stampede get their chance to do just that on Saturday, starting at 11 a.m. against Oceanside.
