With 14 seniors leaving the rugby team this year and nine of them being starters, the team is looking forward to see how the new A-side will work together this upcoming fall season.

This spring season, the team played in three tournaments. A-side placed second in all three and B-side placed third. Even though the A-side lost against Norwich, it was a big game considering they came back with 20 points.

Ian McMahon/ Contributing photo

KSC junior and player on A-side Luke Sprague said it’s going to be tough next season since so many seniors are leaving this year.

“We’re definitely in a rebuilding process right now. Moving forward, we will need to adapt to a smaller team. The ball movement and team chemistry are at a much higher level than us newer guys ever could have hoped for. Without the leadership, size and skill of the graduating seniors, we have our work cut out for us this fall,” said Sprague.

KSC sophomore Steven Sullivan said he is nervous but confident as well for this upcoming season.

“So many of our guys are leaving, so it is pretty sad, but I’m a bit nervous. We’re definitely losing some of our best players, but I don’t think it will be too big of an issue,” said Sullivan. He said the team has improved since his first year; they were 2-4 and this year they went 3-3.

“The team has definitely improved since the fall season, especially the younger and newer players who will still be here next fall season,” said Sprague.

Ian McMahon, a senior on the rugby team, said he is confident on how the team is going to do this fall. “I think they are going to do well; they have a lot of skilled players filling in positions of seniors,” said McMahon.

Luke Stergiou/ Senior Photographer

This past Saturday, the team had seniors vs. next year’s A-side and the next year’s A-side had put up a good fight, explained McMahon, even though the seniors won.

“The only thing they need to make sure of is they recruit a significant number of guys so they can continue to scrimmage each other,” said McMahon.

The seniors are going to be missed. “We have some big shoes to fill. Those guys will be missed for sure; those guys [seniors] have been the backbone of our team,” said Sprague.

Sullivan said not only did they teach them about the sport, but the social aspects of college as well.

Adriana Sanchez can be contacted at asanchez@kscequinox.com