What do the All Blacks, the Wallabies, the Springboks, the Gruffs and the Rhinos have in common? They have all been battling for rugby dominance since the start of September.

While the first 3 have been battling in France in the Rugby World Cup, the last two teams have been shedding their blood and sweat a little bit closer to home; the pitch on North Field.

The Oberlin men’s rugby team, better known as the Gruffs, and the women’s team, the Rhinos, have each played two matches this season against Kenyon and Denison, but both have come away empty handed.

While four combined losses may not be impressive, the way the teams have performed during their defeats is. The Rhinos are in the midst of a rebuilding year and have lost two tough games.

“I am very pleased with the status of the team right now,” said senior captain Caitlin O’Brien. “We have improved exponentially in the two weeks of practice that we’ve spent getting back into the swing of things.”

While the Rhinos have lost the two games by a combined score of 67-5, the lone try coming from Clare Brennan, the future is bright as the team is both large and young.

“We also have an amazing crew of about 20 promising new rookies,” continued O’Brien. “Things are going well for the OC Rhinos.”

As for the rest of the season, the Rhinos have nowhere to go but up.

“Like any good Rhino, our team is slow to build up speed and fury, but once we start to charge — you either get out of the way, or you get trampled,” said junior Alia Kate.

The Gruffs have a different story than their female counterparts, with the team forming less than a calendar year ago. In just their first competitive season, the Gruffs have made strides, but still sit at 0-2.

Most players on the Gruffs, especially the rookies, had never seen a rugby match until they played. With such little experience on the pitch, some growing pains are to be expected.

That being said, the team has grown a lot in just three weeks of practice. That is in large part due to their head coach Paul Kukuca, who donates his free time to the Gruffs because of his love for the game.

“I am very pleased with our class of freshman. They’ve been enthusiastic and quick learners both on and off the pitch,” said junior Keith Yoder. “Our team lacks consistency but not more than one would expect of such a young group.”

As for the rest of the season, the Gruffs need to kick up the intensity.

“Too often we let the game come to us and rarely establish ourselves as the team to beat on the field,” said sophomore Ben Sandberg. “I want to see more aggressiveness the rest of the year.”

The Gruffs are improved from last season, though, as Sandberg, sophomore scrumhalf Will Yon, first-year Will Kukuca and senior Zach Donnelly-Krall have combined for six tries through two matches — triple the amount the Gruffs scored through their first two games last season.

The biggest problem facing the Rhinos and Gruffs, however, is the amount of injured players. The Gruffs alone have seen a total of 15 stitches, three dislocated/broken fingers, a sprained knee and countless bruises and stiff joints.

Since Oberlin is such a small school and thus has a small pool to draw from for club sports, the teams have a hard time dealing with injuries as they simply don’t have the squad depth that other schools have.

Like all club sports at Oberlin, the rugby teams don’t have access to any trainers. This is an issue that has recently been brought to the Student Senate but as of yet, there is no progress in getting trainers for any club sports.

Regardless, the Rhinos and Gruffs will fight through their injuries, leaving their tireless work ethic on the pitch for all to see. The men are off this week, preparing themselves for their next game at Ohio Northern, while the women will seek vengeance against Kenyon with a home match Saturday at noon.