Two-sport athlete Rawlings talks rugby, ROTC, wrestling

Recently, Daily Princetonian Senior Writer Ross Mazo sat down with junior Nate Rawlings of the men's rugby team. Their conversation is printed below.

Prince: What have been the highlights of this year's rugby season?

Nate Rawlings: This season was a lot of fun, probably even better than last season. We had a lot of energy from all three of our coaches, Tom MacFarlane, Rich Lopacki, and Dan Williams, and that really affected everything we did as a team. Probably even more than last year, winning the Eastern Pennsylvania Rugby Union championship was very satisfying.

P: Were you recruited here to play rugby or did you walk on when you got to Princeton?

R: I played football and wrestled in high school, and I was recruited some to play both football and to wrestle. I did not start playing rugby until second semester of my freshman year. It was mostly my roommates who got me to play. They were having such a great time playing, it just seemed like a lot of fun. It is a great team to be a part of. We are officially a club sport, but every year we have the intentions of competing for the national championship.

P: You are the starting tight head prop, what exactly does that position do?

R: In the scrum, I help hold up the hooker and try to disrupt my opponent from getting the ball. When we are not in set play, I focus most of my game on tackling and rucking. I am the biggest guy on our team, so I really have the responsibility to face off against the other team's biggest players.

P: In football you were an offensive tackle, but in rugby you have to play both offense and defense, as well as carry the ball. Do you prefer the multi-task play of rugby to your set position play in football?

R: In rugby there is no set offense and defense, so I really get to do everything, so that is really fun. I am not exactly the best runner on the team. Actually, most of the guys make fun of me because I rarely use my size to run over people in games, that and I have the tendency to get the ball stripped while being tackled, so I really focus on supporting my teammates when they are running. In rugby blocking is a penalty, so that was a confusing change for me. In football I would always be in front of the runner, but now in rugby I follow the runner and after he is tackled I step over him and try to protect the ball. The two games are really different, but they also have a lot of similarities. Rugby is fun because for the first time in my life I actually get to touch the ball. In football, the only time I got to touch the ball was when I would dive on a fumble, or possibly while messing around before practice would start. But in rugby I really get the chance to score, so that is fun.

P: Have you scored any tries yet?

R: Well, I have not scored yet, but I am always a major component of our rolling mauls and I am the dummy move in one of goal line plays. I feel my first try is coming up really soon.

P: Besides playing rugby, what other activities do you do at Princeton?

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

R: That is one of the beauties of rugby, that I can play on the team all season, but I am able to do other things at school. I am a heavyweight wrestler on the varsity wrestling team, I participate in Army ROTC, I am a history major and a member of Tiger Inn. Sometimes I feel a little too busy, but I love everything I do here. The wrestling is very important to me. I am backing up junior Joe Looke and rolling around with him teaches me a lot. we are really going to have a great team this year. While rugby, wrestling, and ROTC all seem pretty different, I have found that they have a lot of similarities. All three have the same sort of team unity and fraternal feeling. That, and they all involve a lot of contact.

P: I have seen that you enjoy yourself on Thursday and Saturday nights. Would you consider yourself a wild person?

R: Wild? I am not sure about that one. I know a lot of guys who are a lot worse, especially some of my rugby teammates. But yeah, I have good time. I have some pretty good stories but I don't know if I want to share them.

P: Is it true that last weekend you picked up a severed pig head and threw it at an unsuspecting person?

R: I am not sure about that one, and if it is true I am definitely not suppose to talk about it.

P: So does that mean that you will not comment on the statement that after you threw the pig head at the person you then asked to be set up with that person's friend?

R: Again, I have to plead the fifth on that one. But I would not refuse anyone setting me up with a friend. I am a nice guy, usually.