by Brent New
Writer for and on behalf of the City of Glendale
There’s an awakening in Steve Lynch’s eyes — a feeling that after a seven-week journey in rugby-stalwart New Zealand, Lynch has grasped onto a whole new level of understanding for the sport that he has loved for more than a quarter of a century.
The longtime Glendale Raptors coach was encased in something of Rugby Rhapsody, calling his recent trip to play in the prestigious Four Nations Maritime Rugby Cup one of the most valuable experiences of his coaching career.
“I learned more about rugby in the past seven weeks in New Zealand than I have in the past 10 years I’ve coached,” Lynch said. “The experience and the people I met were unbelievable. It’s something I’ll never forget.”
As far as what it means for the Raptors’ growth and success, time will tell. And when and if it does, it will probably be hard to sort his experience from all of the other happenings that will go on to define the organization.
Nonetheless, Lynch is eager to spread his newfound knowledge in an effort to help better the Raptors.
“We realized what things we really need to focus on with our guys,” Lynch said. “We saw what it takes to be elite ruggers and I am excited to bring that experience back here.”
Lynch, who is also the Director of Rugby for the Navy, transformed 28 active-duty service men with rugby experience into full-time ruggers to compete in the 30-year-old tournament in Devonport, New Zealand.
Certainly a slim-to-none favorite in the tournament, and maybe even less than that, his patched-together team actually held its own through most of its matches against the seasoned navy teams from New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Australia. But eventually the U.S. fell in all of its matches and watched rugby power New Zealand upset the United Kingdom for the tournament championship.
The next Four Nations Maritime Rugby Cup will take place in 2017.
“We kind of knew that these were teams who were on another level than we were,” Lynch said. “We had players who played on different temporary club teams around the world, while these teams were full of full-time players that have been together for years. These players have been playing the game their whole lives. It’s like being Alabama in football and playing the Broncos.”
Didn’t feel like a loss though. At least once things settled.
Josh Barry, a homegrown Raptors youth star who played on the U.S. military team, said the tournament helped him realize what it takes to compete at an elite level. When asked about it, he vowed to learn from it and bring his skills to the Raptors’ organization this winter.
“Just the technique and skill of those players was unbelievable,” said Barry, who finished his service two months ago and is currently trying out for the Raptors’ Pacific Rugby Premiership team. “We weren’t elite like the other teams. We definitely saw what it takes to be the best.
“You never want to lose, but we were able to take away experiences that changed all of us for the better. We’re better and smarter players because of this trip, even if we didn’t get the result we wanted.”
The U.S. team’s biggest prize may have come before the tournament anyway.
The makeshift squad spent more than three weeks of training for the tournament, some of it with the likes of international rugby talents such as former New Zealand All Blacks captain and renowned rugby coach Buck Shelford.
The feedback was eye-opening, Lynch said. The international stars said they were impressed with the conditioning and athleticism of the U.S. players, but were just as astounded with the lack of technical skills that accompanied that raw talent.
The team’s focus was clear from there.
“Shelford is a celebrity in the rugby world. To work with him was so invaluable,” Lynch said. “These guys helped us really see that we don’t have the fundamentals down like we need to. I mean the great players perfect it and practice the fundamentals relentlessly. We aren’t close to where we should be in those skills.”
Lynch, who returned to Glendale late last year to coach the High-Performance Academy and help with the men’s team, has already been a pioneer in growing the game of rugby in the United States.
Now, he said he is eager to help take the sport he loves to the next level. And luckily for the Raptors, he’ll start in Glendale.
“Had a couple of drinks with the coaches over there and they believe America is kind of a sleeping giant in rugby,” Lynch said. “If we start perfecting the fundamentals to go along with our superior athleticism, we would dominate the sport. That’s exciting to hear.”