H-SC Rugby Veteran Shares Thoughts on Homecoming
by: Andrew Roberts ‘74I was a naive 18-year old, making my first trip out of my native New Zealand, that was welcomed to Virginia by Professor John Hinchcliff (team coach) on an August day in 1970.
I was the very excited and fortunate recipient of the first scholarship offered to a New Zealand high school student through Hampden-Sydney College.
The dawn of that decade was a hot bed of social change that extended to H-SC and rural Virginia. To put it in historical context, this was the era of “Woodstock,” Viet Nam, “The Draft”, Kent State, and anti war demonstrations in D.C. All of these events had an impact on the life of every student, and it was a very exciting time to be at H-SC.
The rugby club was already a going concern when I arrived. The team had some skillful players considering this was either their second or third season. I remember the first game I played in against VMI (away) where we were comprehensively beaten. Our next match at home against W&L was a different story with us teaching them a lesson or two. It seems significant that the 40th anniversary match will be against that very club.
We had a pretty successful season both in the fall and the spring. Victories against ODU, Richmond Rugby Club, and the Norfolk Blues were encouraging, while a touring Penn State side brought a touch of reality. All of that paled into insignificance however as we made our spring tour to the Bahamas, acquitting ourselves well against a couple of expatriate British teams, and gaining our sole victory in the third game against local opposition. This was followed by an invitation to the engagement party of the local team’s captain. I have absolutely no understanding why, but in our brief stay in the islands we became known as the “Cantina Team.”
For family reasons, I had to graciously decline the offer made by H-SC to extend my scholarship for a further three years. For that reason this has always seemed like an incomplete chapter in my life, although I made one trip back for homecoming in the late 90’s with Frank Thomas (class of ’73).
In the intervening years I have had the good fortune to experience a thirty year technical and sales career in the specialist sub sea drilling industry for a subsidiary of G.E. Oil & Gas. In this period I have played rugby in England, Scotland, France, New Zealand, Australia, and Texas where I also coached. The value of a sport like rugby, besides being able to play at top club level well into one’s 40s, is that when you are an itinerant you instantly have “14 new best friends.” The H-SC Honor Code and rugby football is a perfect “match.” The tenets of the code are paralleled in the game of rugby. There is an amazing camaraderie in the sport, the close friends I have worldwide invariably are rugby players that I either played with, or against.
I’m using the 40th anniversary as a reason for a road trip from my current home in Houston, Texas. I’m hoping that my fitness will last
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