On the hunt for redemption, Colorado State men’s rugby returned to the collegiate rugby Division 1A National Championships for the second year in a row.
But they came up just short, falling 69-10 to Saint Mary’s in the first round. An appearance in the national championships capped off a productive year, and last year was their first year back at the championships since 2018, when they fell 76-7 in the first round to UC Berkeley.
While a lot had changed for the Rams in those seven years, a lot can also change in one.
One such change this season was Roman Van Zyl, who came to CSU in the fall from Zambia. He has become a key factor in the success and postseason run of the team, with his experience playing in South Africa bringing assertion and physicality.
Other recent factors in the Rams’ success include a handful of additions to the roster, one being wing Marcel LeFevre.
LeFevre played a key role in La Salette Academy’s 2025 High School State Championship victory for Rugby Illinois.
“College rugby is a huge step from high school, even though I played on a competitive high school team,” LeFevre said. “I’ve learned the more I play with these guys, the more I trust them.”
This trust is facilitated by a not-so-recent addition to the team, head coach Joe Rusert-Cuddy. He played on the team as a student, and even went to the 2018 championships, where the Rams lost to Army West Point.
Now he’s returned to the team as the head coach, leading the Rams to evident success.
In the regular season of the 2025 Rocky Mountain Conference standings, No. 2 CSU slotted in right behind powerhouse No. 1 BYU.
“I think we hit a really successful fall,” Rusert-Cuddy said. “And then for us, it’s always a little different than the West Coast teams because we go heavy in the fall and then take winter off and then start again when spring semester starts. Whereas the California teams, they have the nice weather, so they get to just go all the way through (to) spring.”
Battling California teams such as UC Berkeley and SMC proved to be its own beast. Because they can play uninterrupted all season, they have more opportunities for practices and games to prepare for the championship.
Not to mention, the geographical differences of rugby playing styles require CSU to think on its feet.
“Coming from California, I know the style of play because that’s, like, kind of the mecca, but it’s very different (and) unique,” captain Brock Scanlan said. “There’s, like, regional styles of play, like West Coast: very fast paced, very quick, skillful. East Coast, kind of, like, bigger, like, strength.”
This season, Cal beat the undefeated Saint Mary’s and gained the No. 1 seed in the championship bracket; Saint Mary’s holds the No. 2 seed spot over CSU’s No. 7 seed spot.
“They play kind of like they’re playing in the backyard in a way, like, throwing the ball all over the place, not afraid to, you know, maybe try things in areas of the field that other teams wouldn’t, so they’re really hard to game plan for just because of how dynamic they are,” Rusert-Cuddy said. “But we’re just trusting that, you know, we have good athletes that are aggressive and work hard for one another.”
It’s this trust and camaraderie that the Rams have for one another that has successfully powered them through the season.
With only 15 players on the field at a time and a roster of around 30, CSU used teamwork and the right shift in mindset to go from playing regular season games to championship ones. And the Rams will look to home in on that aspect and continue their appearance at nationals next season.
“So we always want the guys to be mongrels,” Rusert-Cuddy said. “A mongrel is just kind of somebody who loves the dirty work, loves to be aggressive (and) loves to be confrontational in the field, and especially playing a team ranked higher than us, that’s going to be even more important.”
Reach Sophia Schaller at sports@collegian.com or on social media @sophschaller.
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