 The following was taken from the 1982 Omaha Rugby Tournament booklet. It was a letter from a founder of the original rugby team in Omaha, Ralph Gingell.******************************************
OMAHA RUGBY CLUB-A FOND LOOK BACK.... It took a long time coming to the heathen tribes of Omaha, news of the promised land of Rugby. Two Jesuit pre-law students first brought the word, the gospel according to St. Gareth, up the river from the seminary at Rockhurst. At first they spoke with a strange tongue-scrumdown, lineout; and their hymns were different (Dinah, Ole King Cole), but to the few undergrads at Creighton who would believe, it was a whole new way of life. In those days we suffered for our beliefs-long drives to Des Moines and Kansas City-to return beaten and beaten up, but...ready to go again the next weekend. Even some of us aging juveniles caught the fever again and eventually split from the varsity to form the gentlemen of the Omaha Rugby Club in 1973. Vince Egan and Rick Anderson were really to blame. We didn't win many games at first, but with George the Flaming Torch, we won many of the parties. We played at Brownell-Talbot, Adams Park and subsequently at Dodge Park-just a curiosity to say the least. I remember having to borrow a whistle from Gene, the policeman, who watched our games from his car in disbelief. Somehow he turned a blind eye to the kegs we drank in the park after the games. I also remember our first instruction books arriving and the players pacing the sideline reading "How to Play Rugby" five minutes before kick-off. It was at that time that Mike Fanucci, an itinerant from California, played a season for us. He went on to make the US Eagless squad in 1978. I can't really say he learned anything from us considering the "coarse rugby" we were playing at the time. Even at the end of the toughest opening season, we always managed to make our annual summer pilgrimage to Currie, Minnesota for round robin with Minneapolis RFC and the R.A.T.S. After four years we finally beat Minneapolis and they never returned. After two games played at 100 degrees- bathing my bruises in Bloody Lake, ten kegs of beer, and a succulent roast pic can be counted among the highlights of several seasons for us old-timers. Thanks Cowboy.... Oh yes, we had a few bad moments, too, like showing up in Manhattan for a double-header with five players or treking to Aspen with our touring nine! Perhaps we should let a sleeping dog lie. In ten years the number of clubs in Nebraska has grown from one to eight. Creighton, Omaha, UNL, Lincoln, GOATS, River City (formerly UNO), and the two newest additions of Grand Island and Columbus- testimony to the enthusiasm that the natives of Nebraska have taken to this new religion. With a few old men who seem to get better with every passing season, occasional "fervor", and pleny of youthful enthusiasm, Omaha RFC will always be a force. More importantly are the good times to be shared and the good friends to be made and the innumerable hangovers from the ever-ready-to-accomadate bars such as The Golden Buda, Nuncios, Frontier, First Mate, the old Windsor Inn, the Old Maple Inn, and more recently, O'Flaherty's and Sledge's Waterhole. Thank you Omaha for my memories. Now I've moved to Houston and miss you all. But, I haven't hung up my boots yet! The first St. Patrick's Day Tournament was held at Brownell-Talbot with three clubs on a freezing day in 1973. My most memorable moment was seeing a green shamrock painted on Cowboy's cheek as he mooned the opposing side. Every year since, the tournament has improved and is now a class affair, attracting the best clubs in the area. I wish all the teams good luck today.
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