UMF Men's Rugby Team Puts up a Fight at Bates College
The UMF and Bates men's rugby teams at Bates College (Submitted Benji Richards of Bates College).
September 26, 2024
Makayla White, Editor
On Sunday, Sept. 15, our very own men’s rugby team took on the Bates Bobcats for a very intense match. The boys kept the scores close with little room for either team to get ahead, kept the opposing team’s faces close to the turf at times, and still managed to keep good spirits and kind, playful banter between the teams.
Beavers forward, Dale Lapointe, says “I loved the game. I made a ton of tackles and had a couple pick and goes. You can't ask for much else as a forward. My only dislike would be playing on turf, but Bates had nice enough turf to where I didn’t get too many turf burns.”
Dale was on the pitch (pitch to rugby as field is to football) for the entirety of the match. Dale’s energy was noticed by many spectators around the fence, who commented things such as “woah is he gonna get up from that?” and “is that even allowed?”
A plethora of spectators at the event were confused by the ending of the match which concluded with both teams having a score of 22 on the board. From a player perspective on the bittersweet ending, Dale stated “I think it was a fair ending. I feel there were some calls on both sides that were not the best, but they evened each other out for the most part and we all played very well, and I feel we all had a good time so that's all you can ask for.”
Dale’s optimism and positive attitude towards such a violent sport is something I think we could all learn from.
Though, off the pitch, it may have looked like a gentleman’s sport much trash talk was being said during action and in between calls.
Dale says “I don't think there was any crazy chirps, but while in the scrum we argued over which cereal was the best, I said Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Their hooker said lucky charms were the best but that's absolutely not true.”
The game was played for the Taylor James Steeves Foundation.
Dale explains“Steeves was a UMF Rugby alum who passed away from genetic lung cancer. I would urge the readers to check out the Taylor James Steeves foundation that helps families of those with genetic lung cancer through that troubling time.”
He then added “This game was played for the Taylor James Steeves Cup which was made in his honor. Bates and UMF have been battling for this cup for years now and this was the first year it's been back since Covid.”
elow is a link to the foundation, which on behalf of the men’s rugby team I would urge readers to check out.
