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Russ Cherry calls them the “old boys” of Missoula rugby, and these old boys are passing down their knowledge to a new generation of footballers in Missoula.

Now in their second season, the Missoula Mud Dogs are the city's only high school rugby club, led by a group of old-school Jesters and Maggots and others whose playing days are gone or waning.

“We gotta get these little guys interested in it,” said Cherry, an assistant coach for the Mud Dogs, who are 0-1 in their second season. “It takes a lot of time.”

Cherry, who's played rugby since the early 1970s - back in the days when UM had a rugby club, which later became the Missoula Jesters - said he's too old and beat up to play anymore, having retired from the Missoula Maggots in 2002, though he still serves as a recruiter for the club.

But his passion for the game is still intact, and that's why last year he joined head coach Jake Kreilick in leading an all-high-school Missoula team.

Their goal is to get a fresh generation playing the game, while showing Missoula youth that rugby is a game, unlike many sports, they can play well into their middle age.

“It's a lifetime sport, actually,” he said. “I mean, look at me. I've played 30 years straight. If you practice and work on rugby, you'll be in the best shape of your life. We have kids who are way out of shape and never played a sport, but they're out on the field playing rugby.”

Rugby players have a reputation for hard and tough living, and that's another goal for the staff: break down that stereotype.

“We're doing this to show the town that we're not just a bunch of Maggotfest, beer-drinking people,” he said with a laugh. “We're trying to give back to the community.”

The Mud Dogs are 25 strong, mainly recruited through the athletic departments of Missoula's high schools.

Cherry said it's a challenge to teach a group of newbies the game of rugby, since many of those who come out for the team aren't even aware of the rules, much less strategies, of the game.

“It takes a lot of patience, really,” he said. “And drills, drills, drills, drills. We give them papers to read, and some training videos to watch, and then it's basically just going out and playing. Š Like everything else, you just go from there.”

Reporter Jamie Kelly can be reached at 523-5254 or at jkelly@missoulian.com

 

Mud Dogs schedule

(Home games are played at Fort Missoula)

March 22 - Missoula vs. Frenchtown, 1 p.m. (H)

March 29 - Missoula vs. Simms, 11 a.m. (H)

April 5 - Missoula vs. Frenchtown, 1 p.m. (A)

April 11-12 - ISU Rugby Tournament, Pocatello, Idaho (A)

April 19 - Simms Rugby Festival, Sims (A)

April 26-27 - Montana Youth Rugby State Tournament, Missoula (H)

May 3-4 - Pacific Northwest Playoffs, western Washington (A)

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