4 FEATURE
Lights blare at the Westwick Rugby Complex southwest of Lawrence during an evening practice. The Jayhawk Rugby Football Club practices Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. The fall season that is underway has produced several cold, rainy and windy practices.
The owner of Johnny's Tavern is a big part of the Kansas Jayhawk Rugby Football Club
Portraits of former Kansas Jayhawk Rugby Football Club players and life-members rest on the clubhouse wall at Johnny's Tavern, 401 N. 2nd St. The afternoon scene is a far cry from that of regular team gatherings after games and practices.
By Stephen Montemayor smontemayor@kansan.com
Birds — in the hundreds, possibly thousands — shriek as the men approach. Cleats tap across the parking lot until weathered pavement gives way to earth. Late arrivals sprint to the pitch.
It is a particularly cold and windy evening at the Westwick Rugby Complex, south of Lawrence on County Road 458 and kissed by the Wakarusa River. Johnny's Tavern owner and sponsor of the Kansas Jayhawk Rugby Football Club Rick Renfro is filling in for coach Matt Schwartz, presiding over team stretches, warmups and passing and tackling drills.
Phlegm is discharged and drags are taken off water bottles when rest is afforded. Students and alumni commingle on the pitch as the college and club (post-graduate) sides both
Follow Kansan sports editor Stephen Montemayor at twitter.com/smontemayor.
practice together.
Their drills present as many crisp tackles and swift scores as dropped balls and crushing collisions.
The team has passed the fall season's midpoint. Tuesday and Thursday evening practices only grow colder, wetter and windier and maintaining a steady stream of participants — at times this season the team has had to play with two fewer players than the 15 that line up on the field — has been a constant challenge.
Like footnotes, Renfro's words of advice amend and address any errors that occur.
"Whenever you have the rugby ball you use
THE WAVE NOVEMBER 6,2009
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN