It’s not a varsity sport, but it’s more than just a club. Within its own liminal space, made up of muddy fields, eclectic traditions, and dingy basements, Williams Rugby Football Club (WRFC) has built one of the most spirited and tight-knit groups on campus. On Saturday, Oct. 18, the team played its biggest match of the season, taking a 55–21 win against longtime rival Amherst. Fresh off this big performance, WRFC capped off its fall 15s season, played with 15 athletes on each side, this past Saturday with a 50-12 loss against Bentley College.
The team comprises rookies, veterans, and close friends who practice together nearly every day. WRFC leadership includes a president, vice president, and several captains, according to President Arthur Johnson ’26. “The captains are focused primarily on anything that has to do with skill-building for rugby, and I work to perpetuate the team’s identity and values,” Johnson said.
The rugby team makes no cuts, which is unique among club sports at the College, according to co-captain Paul Kaan Coffin ’26. “[Being a no-cut sport] improves our dynamic as a group of people, because there isn’t a built-in hierarchy upon entry,” he said. “That means we’re closer, we have better chemistry, and we can play a better sport together.”
Despite the demanding nature of rugby, the team has grown to over 40 players, according to co-captain Michael Pasko ’26. “If you’re willing to go through the challenges of playing a contact sport, we are more than happy to welcome you to the team,” Pasko said. “It’s the shared experience of doing something hard together that I think is important.”
Overcoming those shared obstacles and building mutual trust gives WRFC its defining sense of brotherhood. “You can’t do anything by yourself,” Coffin said. “I think that it’s a pretty unique experience that other sports don’t get, knowing that every single person around you is willing to genuinely get hurt for you.”
Johnson described the team culture as one that combines grit and heart. “We refer to ourselves as a family and a brotherhood,” Johnson said. “We all come from different places. But we’re all bonded by this little bit of reckless abandon.”
“[The] motto we live by is ‘Make the hit or take the hits that your brother doesn’t have to,’” he added.
This spirit was on full display during the team’s commanding victory against Amherst last Saturday. “There was a penalty against Amherst down at their 10-meter line, and we have a special play where we give it to one of our biggest players, [Elijah Adu ’27],” Johnson said. “He took it in, ran over a guy and scored it. You could see it in the Amherst players’ faces afterwards –they were hesitant going into contact. They didn’t want it.”
Pasko recalled an impressive play, known as a “maul,” as another display of the team’s discipline and teamwork. “[A maul] is when the ball goes out of bounds, and we throw it in, and the guy catches it … turns around, and a bunch of guys push him down the field,” Pasko said. “We had a 20-meter push and then got it out to the back line and scored. It was the most high-quality rugby [that I’d ever seen].”
After the successful maul, the team finished strong. “According to our coach, it was the widest score disparity he’s ever seen in [a match against Amherst],” Johnson said.
The Amherst rivalry runs deep, and so do the traditions surrounding it. Each year, WRFC and Amherst wager a jersey on the outcome of their matchup, a tradition that dates back to the start of the club in the spring of 1959, according to Pasko. “You bet your jersey before the game starts,” Pasko explained. “It’s a very fun feeling to … run back to your team waving the [Amherst] jersey.”
Scores of alums return annually to watch the Amherst game, some wearing the jerseys they won decades ago, according to Pasko. “It’s really cool to see [the alums] and see the significance of what winning an Amherst jersey means to people from all these different generations with the WRFC,” Pasko said.
After the high of the Amherst win, WRFC faced off against Bentley College this past weekend. Though the team fell to Bentley in its final match of the season, the captains agreed that this season has been one of WRFC’s most successful. “We’ve had a fantastic season,” Johnson said. “We’ve been blowing out the opposition. It felt really good to have helped build up this club, put a bow on it at the end, and really dominantly win [the Amherst game].”
Now, WRFC turns its focus toward the spring sevens season, featuring a faster-paced variation of rugby with seven players on each side and shorter halves. “You tend to have to be less good as a team at rugby as a sport to be good at sevens,” Coffin said. “You need to be very athletic and quick.”
Above all, the team hopes to continue strengthening their camaraderie and show their school spirit as they play. “We are part of Williams, and we’re really proud to be part of Williams,” Johnson said. “It’s a family [where] we all care about each other.”
