Spartan Rugby part 2.

As stated at the end of last weeks Q&A with James Fonda from SJSU, there was a part 2 being written up and having the final touches added on. This years team president Michael Gonzalez also answered a few questions sent over.

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LLR- What preparations is SJSU taking this year to get back to the 7s nationals?

MG- We have simply put more concentration on 7's. We held two a day practices the week leading up to the beginning of school in order to be ready for our first tournament. We have also stated splitting our practices in half having by having our 7's program completely concentrate on 7's and have our newer players become prepared to played 15's.


LLR- How are the 7’s and XVs squads developed?

MG- 7's players tend to be the most experienced rugby players in the program. To get in the 7's program a player must prove himself in 15's first. Rarely do first year players to the program get to play 7's unless they have developed quickly or have had past rugby experience.


LLR- What do you think of the change  USA RUGBY made to there National 7s tournament this year?

MG- We are disappointed to see it being held in Spring. The preparation for every team will be more difficult this way since they will be concentrating on 15's in Spring. Nonetheless, we want to get there again for the second straight year.


LLR- Will SJSU also participate in the Las Vegas invitational?

MG- As of now we are not.


LLR- What “pre-season” games will sjsu play this year before conference play starts up in the winter?

MG-  Our 15's Preseason will begin in Mid November and we will only play two games. We will have home matches against Santa Clara to open up and then Sonoma to close out the Preseason.


LLR- What do you think about the new additions to the Pacific west conference?

MG- We are excited to see two solid teams in Sacramento State and UC Davis enter the conference. We had the opportunity to compete against both in 15's last season and already have gotten a glimpse of how good Sacramento States 7's is this year when we faced them at their tournament in September. Both are used to the highest of competition being former D1A teams and we look forward to opportunity of taking them down in both the 7's Conference tournament and 15's as well.


LLR- How is recruiting going this year with the beginning of a new school year?

MG- We really worked hard on recruitment this year and are excited about the talent and dedication these new players have. The numbers are not as high as we would like, but we want players who are going to make sacrifices for our program and I think that is what we have this year.

*thank you to both Michael and James for taking the time to answer these questions and helping provide some insight into the Spartan program for those who tend to over look this improving Rugby Club.

SPARTAN STRONG, GO FORWARD GO SPARTANS.