Numbers Up As Arizona State Returns To League Play After Suspension

Numbers Up As Arizona State Returns To League Play After Suspension

The Arizona State University men's rugby team was suspended for much of 2017, but the Sun Devils are back and ready to resume conference play this weekend.

Jan 24, 2018 by Alex Goff
Numbers Up As Arizona State Returns To League Play After Suspension

Somewhere along the way things have settled down at Arizona State.

After being suspended for much of the spring and the entire fall, the Sun Devils are back on the field and ready to play in their first conference game since early last year.

The suspension came from an ugly incident during the B-side game between Arizona State and Arizona on February 25. A player for the ASU B side, who was not a student and wasn’t even CIPP’d with USA Rugby, kicked an Arizona player in the face. Video of the incident is out there and it is pretty horrific. The offending player was arrested and has been banned for life from all rugby. Arizona State head coach Gary Lane lost his position (and is banned from coaching until 2019), and the program itself was put on suspension by the school.

But that suspension is over now, and the Sun Devils open up PAC conference play in Los Angeles against UCLA and USC this weekend.

“We’ve got a good group of players and a lot of enthusiasm,” said new head coach Pieter Hugo, who worked with the Arizona Bobcats high school select side last year and has a few alumni of that program now on his ASU team. “We know we’re under the microscope here, so it’s very important for us to keep our discipline. The guys are working really hard, and we’re excited to get back in to conference play.”

It’s a fairly young ASU team, although experienced players remain. Matt Brennan, Ben Cohen, and Lew Grassie are returners who are a key part of the leadership group, while Alex Walsh has been named captain.

Several newer players are looking to break into the first 15, including freshman and former Bobcats standout Adriaan van Niekerk, a smart and physical loose forward. Englishman James Tarbatt has jumped in as a potential starter, too.

But perhaps the victory is how the program has kept its numbers up despite the suspension and has returned on the field. The players who hadn’t done anything to bring about the trouble are now free to compete once more.