The DeMatha Rugby team is back and looking for a championship to bring back to Madison Street. They have had a shaky start so far but hope to turn the season around and strive to be one of the best rugby programs not only in the state but in the country.

Senior winger Walter-Thomas Amondji is relatively new to the team and has been “welcomed with open arms and nothing but love” from the first practice on. Walter mentions that the top teams in the league are the normal “big WCAC names like Gonzaga, Good Counsel, and St. John’s.” There have been some struggles for the team, such as positive Covid tests and injuries. “I was out with Covid and one of our guys got hit pretty hard in our opener against The Heights.” The goal for Walter and the team is straightforward, “improve daily and bring fear to our opponents, but the ultimate goal is to bring the hardware back to DeMatha.”

Senior scrum half Fernando Castillo Zelaya admits that the team is relatively new and inexperienced so it has been a rough start. “The season as is isn’t bad for the number of inexperienced players we have, but as a team we are struggling to figure out the basics of passing the ball and defense, due to it being such a difficult game to understand.”

Fernando also mention injuries as a major factor in their early-season performances. He says none of them are season-threatening, “but numbers are a huge key.” He elaborated, “Some of our starters were out for a week or two, [but] we should have everyone back soon.” Fernando thinks that at this point, a WCAC title might be out of reach, but the team isn’t giving up. “We really need to lock in and work if we want the title. As of right now we are looking for a spot in the playoffs and hope for the best.”

The rugby team looks to keep pushing forward and to stay away from injuries as much as they can, as that has been a common problem for them. Once they have everyone back and healthy, they will look to end the season strong, make a big push for the playoffs, and hopefully bring back a WCAC title to DeMatha.