As he looks at a team with 40 players on the roster, Nick Booz, a player on ASU's men's club rugby team, recognizes the journey here was not easy.
Now in his fifth year with the team, Booz recalled his freshman season, being one of only 17 players right after COVID-19.
Going back through the journey that got the team to today, he credits his head coach, Pieter Hugo.
"He's just really good at specifically making guys who are new to the sport be comfortable with the sport and find their liking within rugby," Booz said.
Hugo, the man at the helm for ASU, grew up in South Africa, surrounded by the sport.
He played first division rugby in South Africa, but had little expectation of finding a club in Arizona after moving. However, only a few weeks into his time in the Valley, he found a place to play.
Finding a connection with his teammates, rugby helped Hugo get easily settled in Arizona.
Hugo's acclimation to the United States is just one example of many in the identity of rugby. Despite the high level of physicality in the sport, Hugo sees rugby as a source of connection.
"The sport is all about camaraderie and inclusiveness," Hugo said. "Once you play with somebody, you're teammates for life and you will have each other's back. It's a big brotherhood."
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After his playing career ended, Hugo wanted to stay connected with the sport. He got experience in both refereeing and coaching, but getting the job to coach the men's club team at ASU in 2017 led him to focus fully on coaching the sport.
Despite holding multiple positions around rugby before taking the job, shifting his attention to ASU was an easy choice for Hugo.
"I just enjoy working with the players, seeing how they develop and grow," Hugo said. "Not just as players, but also as young men. That's just very rewarding."
The challenge of teaching newcomers the sport is certainly something Hugo factors into his coaching.
While Booz had experience in rugby before college, not everyone else on the team did. Hugo's mentality ends up improving all players, not placing the focus on one specific background in rugby.
"I like his coaching process a lot because it involves a lot of perfecting the basics," Booz said. "If you can never get past the basics, especially in rugby, you won't really go anywhere. Perfecting the basics is the center of what rugby is, the center of how rugby works."
Rugby may be very popular around the globe, but the number of people connected to the sport in the U.S. creates some issues for ASU.
While having to teach rugby to a group that might not be too familiar with the sport may be one of the primary challenges for college rugby coaches in the U.S., Hugo has no issue with it.
"A lot of the players don't know rugby at all," Hugo said. "(I'm) trying to install those cultures that I grew up with, and kind of integrated culture here. That's by everybody being teammates, everybody having each other's back and then seeing how they grow."
Hugo's mindset also plays a big part in his success as a coach. The team is set to play in nationals on May 1. Hugo, approaching coaching "with a very positive attitude," has a major impact.
Pearse McNamara, a rugby member and executive vice president of Sport Clubs at ASU, is very grateful that his coach emphasizes positivity.
"It's always looking on the bright side, what can we do better," McNamara said. "He really pushes us at practice, which is a really good thing. Finding our weaknesses, pushing us to that point where we might be second-guessing him, and then we'll go and win a sevens tournament in (Los Angeles)."
Edited by Alan Deutschendorf, Senna James and Pippa Fung.
Reach the reporter at aswift10@asu.edu and follow @alexswiftsports on X.
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