RANDALL’S ISLAND, NY– As you already know, Saturday is a Rugby Day! That’s universal. This Saturday, though, is extra special here in New York City. Today is the New York Rugby Club Family Day. The one day where all sides: Under 19 Boys, Under 19 Girls, U19 Alumni Men, Senior Men, Senior Women and Old Boys all play a game in front of each other. Yours truly and RWU host Johnathan Wicklow Barberie will be pretty busy, so to keep you occupied and in the spirit of the summer’s biggest movie, The Avengers, we have put together a Marvel Comics Superhero rugby 15. Okay… So this one is basically for the kids. But why not sit with them and place real players in the role of the heroes – Team USA’s Todd Clever is a gimme? It’s a great way to hook your young ones on the game. So, without further ado, here to save the day are your heroes!
1. The Hulk – Great Strength and Mobility and a mean disposition come scrum time.
2. Puck (from Alpha Flight, the Canadian X-men) – Small and agile with a sense of humor for dirty work.
3. The Thing – General always upset, perfect attitude for a tighthead prop. Will be a rock (ha ha) and the cornerstone of the scrum.
4. Mr. Fantastic – Natural leader so will have no problem making the line-out calls and with his flexibility your hooker won’t need to worry about his aim. Also he will be able to bind all 8 players and keep them tight for a good push.
5. Colossus – The right amount of strength and steel to move The Thing in scrums. With Mr. Fantastic as the other lock his inability to jump is irrelevant come lineout time.
6. Wolverine – Unbreakable and has no problem getting physical and helping create turnovers. His bad attitude is suited to this role as he can just continue to hit things, his inability to catch will not be and issue.
7. Daredevil – The man without fear is perfect for the role of openside flanker. A true fetcher fears nothing, plus with his heighten sense he will know when the ref is about to blow his whistle before it occurs thus avoiding penalties.
8. Thor – He will bring power and strength from the back of the scrum, provide great go forward ball and will amaze with that hair.
9. Spiderman – He is nimble and quick which will be useful at the breakdown, can dig for the ball and serve it on a plate to his fly half and has no problem giving direction to the forwards.
10. Cyclops – Brings a laser like focus to executing the game plan. His calm and leadership will be important to get that backline clicking.
11. The Human Torch – Blazing speed and with flair, ego and confidence. All that you want in a winger.
12. Beast – He provides the strength need to make line breaks but the intelligence to run through gaps as well as defenders and his ability to read situations will help in his ability to off-load and put guys into space.
13. Captain America – He is focused on duty and responsibility and with the 13 channel being the toughest defensively he is a defense first guy. However, he is also not shy in attack and give the ball in space with time, he will do damage.
14. Ice Man – He provides speed and quick thinking too. The big benefit is that he is a calmer more cerebral wing so he will be able to read and cover for the Fullback and not be about the glory like his fellow winger.
15. Iron Man – He can bring down any highball. He is a bit of a maverick but he will bring a Serge Blanco kind of flair to the attack as he joins the attack when he wishes.
That’s it for now, we look forward to your comments. And tune in tomorrow for D.J. Eberle’s column on Nate Ebner.
