DAVID NAKAGAMI
Assistant Sports Editor
A native of Concord, N.C., senior Hunter Poarch never expected to play rugby in college. However, as the captain of Pepperdine’s rugby club, Poarch finds himself leading a 5-1 squad into the Men’s Division II Southern California Rugby Football Union playoffs in a few weeks at Loyola Marymount. The sports medicine major recently took time out from life on the pitch to talk about his start in rugby, the hits (and injuries), and his future in the sport in this week’s edition of “10 Minutes With…”
How did you get involved in rugby?
“I was actually on a missions trip in San Felipe, Mexico and I was building a house with two guys that were on the rugby team. They just suggested it to me and told me that I should come out and play. So this was my first year at Pepperdine when I transferred here. I came out to the next practice and played that weekend on the team, so it started right then.”
What do you love about rugby?
“I just like the team aspect of the game. Rugby more so than any other sport I’ve played, it’s very much about the team. You can’t just have one or two standout players that make the team. Everyone has to contribute the whole game and everyone is involved in every play. It’s just a really exciting game and everyone there is involved the whole time.”
What is the team dynamic?
“The chemistry amongst players is really good. There’s not much animosity within the team. I think everyone’s really enjoying this year and having a good time with everyone that’s there. It’s a little more laid back than most sports, and sometimes that’s to a fault. The guys on the team like to have a good time and have fun, enjoy the game. That’s the approach we’ve taken to it a lot. It’s just to enjoy it a lot, but still during practice we do try to get things done and get serious about some things.”
Who are the coaches of the team?
“Robert Ahola is the coach emeritus. He’s an older guy who’s been playing rugby his whole life. He’s been with Pepperdine I think eight years or so now. Another guy, Pete Tulaney, he’s the current head coach. He graduated from Pepperdine graduate school I think about four years ago.”
What kind of player are you? What position do you play?
“I’m personally much more of a defensive player. The position I play is fly-half. It’s kind of like a point guard combined with a quarterback. I need to be able to distribute the ball well. It says I’m doing my job well if other people are scoring. I’d rather see other people score. I just like to tackle mainly. I’d like to make a highlight reel where it’s just a bunch of hits. My position is also good because most people in my position get run over a lot by the bigger guys. They expect me to get run over, but usually they’re sorely mistaken on that.”
Have you gotten a lot of injuries playing rugby?
“My shoulders are pretty bad. I pop my right shoulder out almost every game. My left shoulder’s pretty bad too. I’ve broken my nose three times and broken a couple bones in my hand, but no big deal. You gotta play through that stuff.”
Who are Pepperdine’s rivals?
“The team I think we want to beat the most because we don’t really like them is probably Fullerton. I think our best rival is with Cal Lutheran just because we know a lot of the guys on their team. It’s a good rivalry. We respect each other a lot and we always have a good game. We’re usually one of the top two teams in the division. The game we played at the end of our season this year was for playoff rights. Whoever won was going to go to the playoffs. So it was a pretty big game.“
As a senior, how has this season been special to you?
“This season’s been cool because I’ve gotten to be the captain this year. Last year I was a co-captain, but this year I’ve gotten to take more of a lead role with the team. We’ve just brought in a lot of new guys. We have a lot of freshmen that I’m really excited about that have joined the team. There’s a new feeling to the team this year, I think, than has been in the past. We’ve had a lot more fans come out, people are really starting to hear the word about rugby and enjoying it. It’s taken more of a public setting somehow this year, which has been really cool.”
Do you plan playing rugby in your future?
“I’m planning on going to medical school. UNC is where I’d like to go, and they have a rugby team. My body’s telling me ‘No, don’t do it,’ but it’s hard to lose the love for the game. Even this past weekend, I was watching a girl’s soccer game and next to it in Long Beach was a rugby tournament. I went and watched them, and it was men’s Division I. They were like, ‘Oh, do you want to play in the next game?’ I was like, ‘All right,’ so I suited up and played a little bit because I love the game. Opportunities like that will continue to come up. Rugby is a worldwide sport where there is this brotherhood no matter what. If someone plays rugby, you’re like, ‘Cheers, man.’ It’s good to see someone else that enjoys that brotherhood. So hopefully, if my body’s up for it, I’d love to keep playing, but we’ll see.”
Which pro athlete do you think would make a good rugby player?
“You automatically think about football players because they’re big. At the same time, a lot of the football mentality will keep you from being the best rugby player.”
Why is that?
“A lot of it is about field positioning in rugby and being sure that you always maintain possession when you’ve got the ball. Rather than fighting for that extra 2-3 yards, you just need to go ahead and drop in the tackle and set yourself up for the ruck so that you can get the ball out again. So it’s just a little different mentality when you go into the game. I think you would have to think a little more [in rugby] than you would in football because it’s a continuous game. You’re always thinking a step ahead rather than just the play you’re about to run.
“That being said, I would hate to see [Baltimore Ravens linebacker] Ray Lewis on the rugby field. I’d hate to see him anywhere. I’d be pretty frightened. Seeing him line up across from me getting ready to tackle me, I think I’d get pretty frightened about that.”
What is the status of the team right now?
“The official season is over. The next thing we have is playoffs. They start the weekend of April 5. We’re playing tentatively at LMU. LMU, Occidental, ourselves and UC Irvine are the four that are going to be in the playoffs. I think otherwise, all the games have been settled. So we’re in.”
What should people know about rugby, and the Pepperdine rugby team in particular?
“I can’t say enough about our rugby team and the game of rugby. People don’t really understand it, but even so it’s still a great game to come and watch. It’s very up-tempo and fast-paced. It’s a wonderful sport to watch. We’ve got a lot of great guys on the team that I think a lot of people like here at this school. It’s a good sport to come and support. We try to support other people as much as we can in the sports and endeavors that they’re doing, so we’d love for people to come out and watch us play, especially for the playoffs. It’s not a long trip to LMU, so hopefully we’ll get some people out there.”
03-27-2008