Montana State men's rugby team fired up for nationals, calls for community to help get there

Montana State is no stranger to success, and the university's rugby team is proving that as they head to nationals—but they need the community's help to get there.

"We're a quiet team. You know, people don't know we even exist sometimes," says Head Coach Joseph Williams.

"Looking to really prove ourselves," says senior Finn Russell.

The MSU men's rugby team is coming off its eighth conference championship and is heading to nationals.

"So, we're still trying to improve on that every year," says Russell.

Last year the team made nationals but was taken out in round 8.

"We get bumped out. And then you know you have to play the next day. So we would end up in the top ten in the country. But last year was our first year breaking that," says Williams.

Williams says while the loss was hard, he and the team used that as motivation this year.

"It's like, alright, well, let's not get upset that we lost. That's not getting us anywhere. So we immediately sit down after the game and say, why did we lose," says Williams.

The momentum is there for the team going 6-1 this fall. Their next hurdle is getting the team to St Louis for nationals.

"We're a club sport, which means we win and we make it to nationals. We got to raise $20,000 quick," says Williams.

For Senior Connor Kelly there is a lot to prove, especially being a team from out west.

"People are always like, 'What is Montana? What are you guys doing here?'" says Kelly.

"They are from either Minnesota, Chicago, or Iowa. So we're one of the only teams really from the West," adds Russell.

Ranked 9th nationally, winning and drive is in the team's DNA.

"We won our conference for the eighth time in a row. So there's always just been an expectation that we dominate this part of the circuit," says Russell. "Being able to see that we had success in our scheme, and just being able to kind of trust our teammates."

With their eyes set on a national championship, this team is aiming to put Bobcat rugby on the map.

"Growing up that I would be able to represent any university at a national level, so it's been really cool to be able to wear the Bobcat with pride," says Kelly.