It's a typical Friday night at Hopkins and everyone is looking for a fun party. They've got their drinking shoes on, are wearing their favorite team's T-shirt and are sporting those jeans that are debatably clean. A rumor has been going around this past week that the rugby team has a party going on, so a few students head out in hopes of finding a rousing game of beer pong.
They arrive at the house, ready to go ... only to open the front door to find not rugby players, but a group of guys in pink polo shirts, plaid shorts, sweaters tied around their necks and neatly pressed khakis on their legs. But wait - it is the rugby team! But is this the right house?
Yes, it is. Tonight's the traditional rugby "Tea Party," and those who are lucky enough to be invited have a lot to be thankful for. The whole team is dressed in mandatory attire, which can be anything that would look good if you're playing golf or talking about stock tips while watching a dog show.
I caught up with freshman Mike Porambo to find out some insider details on one of the most underrated sports teams here at Hopkins, and he gave me the scoop from all angles.
Mike assured me that rugby at Hopkins doesn't exactly fit the traditional stigma of a hardcore sport with even more hardcore drinkers. These guys know how to study hard, tackle and maul hard, and party in between the three.
"Our parties are pretty typical actually. We'll get a keg or two and have the pong table going," he said. "But every spring we have our 'Tea Party,' where everybody dresses up like preppy kids."
The guys take pride in the fact that they can give each other a hard time, maintain good grades, win matches and pretend to love pastels.
The Hopkins Rugby Football Club, or HRFC, has a long tradition of great rugby teams, dating all the way back to the early 1900s. They play in the Potomac Rugby League aginst the University of Maryland, Loyola College in Maryland, Salisbury University, Towson University and others in the mid-Atlantic region.
Despite the fact that rugby is generally played in the fall, the team has quite a few scrimmages in the spring. They are off to an awesome 2-0 start, having recently played two games: one against a tough George Washington and the other against a solid Carroll County. The Blue Jays won both those games, 19-6 and 13-0, respectively. The win over George Washington was a huge one because the Jays lost to them twice in the fall.
However, don't confuse the ticks under the "W" column as easy matches. It takes timing, precision, strength, endurance, teamwork ... which all begin with the pre-game ritual.
Porambo was gracious to provide the details. The entire team starts by stretching in one large circle with the captains in the middle. They then follow that with running through a few contact drills, and right before kickoff, the 15 starters will huddle together as tightly as possible underneath the goalposts to get the adrenaline flowing and to psych themselves up. This means that the war is ready to begin.
Even with the hype of the game, many people still ask: How brutal can a game really be? Porambo laughs at this.
"After our game versus Loyola in the fall, every player was covered from head-to-toe in mud, including in our ears, noses, eyes ... yeah, pretty much everywhere," he said. That sounds pretty dirty.
The future for the rugby team looks to be a positive one, according to captains Wayne Atwell and Chris Dorbian.
"The team's made a lot of progress the past two years; with so much young talent, the club has a very bright future," Atwell said.
Dorbian chimed in, agreeing. "Wayne and I will be leaving the team in good hands. We've got so much youth, we'll be a force for years to come."
As four-year veterans, Atwell and Dorbian know what it takes for the club to be a success. They've both been spectacular leaders on and off the field for the team.
Let's just hope that the upcoming force that Dorbian knows the team has will not only rock the field, but also carry on the tradition of spring polo shirts and tea parties.
