Hall of Fame

Keith Martin attended Drew University from 1976 through 1980, majoring in History and Political Science. He is very grateful for the rigorous education that Drew provided, which prepared him for Delaware Law School. Keith has been a practicing attorney in Philadelphia since 1983.

Keith was introduced to rugby by a chance meeting with Warren Paul C’78 on his very first day at Drew. Upon entering the UC Pub, Warren asked Keith if he had ever played rugby. He had not. Warren took Keith into the pub and introduced him to the upper-class rugby players. They explained the game to him over many pitchers of beer. Keith agreed to attend practice the very next day without a rugby uniform or equipment. They put him in at A side prop position, and he learned the game on the fly. Keith played prop and wing forward positions his first two years at Drew.

Keith studied in London in the fall of his junior year, where he played rugby for the Sudbury North Wembley Wasps. He was playing the 8-man position and received extensive training and knowledge of the position from his London coach. Upon his return to Drew, Keith began the 8-man position using the skills he learned while playing for the Wasps. Experience in London, along with his amazing teammates at Drew, allowed Keith to accumulate impressive statistics over the next two years. These two influences have brought him to being inducted into the Drew Rugby Hall of Fame.

The most memorable season for Keith was the 1978–1979 team. That team shut out every college team they went up against.

Keith is honored to have played with all of his talented teammates that are a tightly knit brotherhood. He would like to thank all of his teammates and Drew University for the honor of being inducted into the Drew Rugby Hall of Fame. Keith feels blessed for this honor and is happy to share it with his wife, Anne.

Dan came to Drew in 1965 knowing nothing about rugby other than it was played with a “fat football.” Intrigued by the sport, he came to his first practice in spring 1966 and quickly became a committed rugger. His development as a player was largely due to the influence of John Hinchcliff (DRFC HoF 2022), who grew up playing rugby in New Zealand. John took the young team under his wing and taught us how to play the game.

After playing various positions in the backfield and the scrum, he settled in at fullback for most of his Drew career. One standout experience was playing in the “Thanksgiving Sevens Tournament” on Randalls Island (NYC) in 1967. We had no game experience in sevens rugby, but we had a great collection of athletic talent and instincts about how to play. We surprised our opponents and won three games to make it to the quarterfinals, where we lost to the eventual tournament winner.

Dan and Dwight Davies (DRFC HoF 2024) were elected co-captains for the 1968–69 season and led the team in practice and in games. A second standout experience was our capstone win over Princeton in spring 1969 to capture the Schaeffer Cup for the first time.

He went on to play in the 1969–70 season at Syracuse, when he was in grad school. He returned to the pitch in 1975 while working at Drew and played several more seasons until it was time to hang up his rugby boots.

After all the games were over and the memories began to fade, the friendships he made with so many of his teammates are what have endured to this day.

Eric Kaeuper’s introduction to rugby began in middle school in Denver, Colorado, when an Australian teacher joined his father’s school for a year and gifted him a video of the 1995 Rugby World Cup final. That moment sparked a lifelong fascination with the sport.

Eric attended Drew University with the intention of playing baseball for the Rangers. However, after not making the baseball team — amid fierce competition for limited spots — he found a new path with the Drew rugby squad. Starting out as a lock, Eric quickly adapted to the nuances of the game, eventually transitioning to the front row, where he played both tighthead and loosehead prop during his final two years at Drew.

Following graduation, Eric took a hiatus from rugby until fellow Drew alumni Ryan Meiller C’05 and Michael Wieners C’04 recruited him to join the Princeton Athletic Club Rugby. Having shed some of his college weight, he declared himself a back and moved to center. With PAC 15s, Eric showcased his versatility by playing all along the back row for both A and B sides, filling every position except fullback. With PAC 7s, he returned to his front row days from college, playing prop while also handling much of the kicking duties. He played several memorable years with PAC before retiring from competitive rugby in 2010.

Eric now resides in Garwood, New Jersey, with his wife, Heather. Together, they have raised her two now-grown children, Brooke (22) and Ethan (24).

Rebecca “Happy Hour” (Morris) Kuhar arrived on the Drew campus in 1992 and was quickly attracted to the nascent Drew Women’s Football Club, formed in the spring of 1991. A high number of female ruggers hailed from Tolly 2nd and Tolly Pit, so the wave of fun began as folks walked the halls and asked their friends to come to the initial meeting and then, as weeks went by, to practice. The fun and camaraderie continued on the field, at suite parties, the punchbowl, and game day, leading to strong and long-lasting friendships, which endure to this day.

She was a driver of the van to the games in the latter years and played all four years — almost always at outside or wing. Rebecca scored the second or third try for the team (who can remember details?!) with a run up the outside of the field. The try may or may not have been contested, but finally touching the ball down during a game was a highlight of her DWRFC career.

Rebecca has remained engaged with the DWRFC team, supporting the 2025 annual game and enlisting current and recent members of the women’s team so the annual tradition continued (when the men’s team could not field enough on their own!). The co-ed touch game in 2025 was a success!

Rebecca majored in economics with a business management minor and received her Master of Public Administration from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA). She lives in Midtown Manhattan (Hell’s Kitchen) with her two children, Max (20) and Caitlin (18), and currently works at J.P. Morgan. Rebecca is a member of the Drew University College Alumni Association Board, spearheading and supporting Drew Affinity Networks to organize events in various cities and among various sectors. She also mentors Drew students on the Wall Street Semester and has taught a class on Urban Governance and Finance at Drew. Rebecca credits her career trajectory and success to her formative years at Drew University and the opportunity to study abroad in Egypt and spend a semester abroad in Brussels, which were instrumental to her career path in public policy and 25+ years of work with nonprofits.

I started playing rugby for Mt Vernon High School in Alexandria, VA, in my junior year, 1977. At first, I played hooker. Soon, the club leadership realized I was going to stick around, and they moved me to the wing position to use my speed. Mt Vernon had a pretty good team. In a 1977 tournament, we defeated the other four teams in the area and promptly became East Coast High School champions. I even had a jacket to prove it. Somehow, I lost that jacket. (I never should have put it in the washer)

My introduction to Drew Rugby was on a beautiful spring day in 1978; I still remember watching from the sidelines as Mark Andrews (C’80) poured his beer on an opposing player who got too close to the sideline. That did it for me. I was coming to Drew University.

I played in most of the backfield positions during my rugby career. At Drew, I played wing, inside center, wing forward, and scrum half. During my freshman year I quickly realized what a special group of people all of my teammates were. It was a Brotherhood. Everyone brought a unique and different talent to the campus - not all of it on the pitch. It was infectious, a feeling that spread to all on campus. We were living in a version of “Animal House.” We all have many stories to tell as we rucked in the mud, played on pitches that were more asphalt than grass, and traveled to away games (a few times, we even used a bus). Saturdays during Rugby season were a special time as we built memories that have lasted for decades. Needless to say, I have developed many cherished friendships that have lasted a lifetime. I owe all of this to the brotherhood of the Drew Rugby Football Club. JAM ON BROTHERS.

Post-graduation, I continued my playing career with the Princeton Athletic and Montclair Rugby clubs. An ACL injury sidelined my on-field rugby career in 1987, although I have “helped” referee from the sidelines at numerous matches still to this day.

I have been in the coffee industry for 35 years. I lived in Maplewood, NJ, for most of this time, raising my three children, Samantha, Andrew, and Connor. My son, Andrew, is also a member of the DRFC family, having graduated in 2020 after four years on the team. He was captain and then president of the club. Something he reminds me of as I was only captain my senior year.

If you have heard any stories about me - I DENY everything. I was at church with DINKY.

Chris Walsh C’80 started his association with the Drew Rugby Club as a freshman when he was drafted to compete as a member of DRFC in Fairleigh Dickinson RFC’s Beer Drinking Olympics. He and several others, including Charlie Seidel C’78 and Dave Mortensen C’78, traveled across town and beat FDRFC soundly, much as DRFC has done on the pitch for years.

During his misguided first three years at Drew, he played lacrosse, not rugby, but in the fall of his senior year, he yielded to the inevitable and took the pitch, playing mostly hooker for Green Death (as the B-side was called in those days) with occasional stints at wing forward and hooker for the A-side.

During his two seasons playing for Drew, he was known as a solid front-row man, a sure tackler, and a reliable anchor for the boat races. In addition, thanks largely to Charlie Russomanno C’82, he scored his first try — perhaps the most beautiful try in DRFC history in a match against Montclair. Having achieved this pinnacle of try-scoring perfection, he has disdained to touch the ball down in the subsequent hundreds of matches in which he has played across 45+ years and eight countries.

After graduating (by the skin of his teeth), Chris played a few seasons for White Plains RFC and then went mostly dormant except for the annual Soc Deacon Memorial Alumni Rugby Match until 2006, when he joined the Morris Masters at the urging of his late classmate, Ralph Scoville C’80. Chris has played regularly for Morris ever since — somehow becoming the MusterMaster and Match Secretary from 2007 through 2024.

In another mystery, for reasons known neither by Chris nor anyone else, he somehow became the primary organizer for all things related to DRFC alumni, organizing the annual Alumni Match, the 50th and 60th DRFC Anniversary celebrations, and hosting the DRFC Hall of Fame ceremony. In that role, he has maintained friendships with dozens — perhaps hundreds — of people with whom he was on campus from 1976 to 1980, as well as become friends with players from the 1960s to the current team.

Chris recently retired from numerous roles in Financial Technology and spends his time at home in Bergen County writing about himself in the third person and going down YouTube rabbit holes when he’s not traveling — mostly to watch and/or play rugby around the world.

I’m surprised at how much this honor means to me. It’s taken me a bit off guard. It’s been 57 years since I last played rugby. It’s not exactly like the experience has faded in my memory, I’m still playing rugby occasionally in my dreams. 57 years is still 57 years. I remember how touched I was last year by the way Hunt Jones C’70, DRFC HoF’24, Dwight Davies C’69, DRFC HoF’24, and Don Clarke C’72, DRFC HoF’22 described their experiences.

I love playing with these guys. It’s as if I lived every year for the spring and fall to play rugby, but the Waverly Tavern downtown also figures into my experience at Drew. Hence some of my academic difficulties. I wish Dean Stonesipher were here. I rallied and eventually earned advanced degrees in education, psychology, and psychoanalysis. He’d be proud of me, having correctly asked me to take a leave of absence. I ended up playing rugby for a year at Harvard. I was living in Cambridge and working in the construction industry. I drove by Soldiers Field and saw Harvard playing rugby. I drove over, and I ran into John Faggi, who had been the captain of Princeton when I was a captain of Drew. He introduced me to Sione Tupou, the team’s coach and captain. Sione, who had massive shoulders and liked to play barefoot, invited me to play, and so I did before being welcomed back to Drew.

I didn’t know anything about rugby when I arrived at Drew. I remember Larry Haber C’66 and Peter Schatz C’66 encouraged me to play. Hunt asked me if I remember how I got the nickname “Sure Guy.” I’d like to think of it as an honorific, like I could be counted on, but I had my fair share of knock-ons, as in: “Nice catch, sure guy.” I had another nickname - Fast Eddie. I remember one game, Don Clarke launched this magnificent 40-yard pass across the pitch. I was by my lonesome with touch about 50 yards ahead and some guy caught me from behind. I wasn’t that fast, but I liked the nickname.

The first coach we had was an Englishman who knew the game, and sometimes, we were more skillful than some other teams who might have been more athletic than we were. I remember during halftime of one game, the coach took me aside and said something like, “You got off to a rough start, but you’re playing like a dream now.” I don’t know if I ever played like a dream, but I’d like to think I gave rugby at Drew everything I had. As I say, I loved it, and I lived for it, and I loved the guys I played with. I can still picture most of them in my mind’s eye.

Dwight grew up in Westfield, NJ, and came to Drew in 1965 after spending a year at the Naval Academy. He was assigned a dormitory room in Baldwin basement with roommates David Millar and Peter Schatz, both seniors and Rugby players.

David had spent a semester in London and returned as a Rugby enthusiast. He started the Drew Rugby Club in his junior year with hardly any support from the administration. No drinking was allowed on campus, so traditional post-game festivities were challenging. But despite long odds, the Rugby team became successful on the field and the closest thing to a fraternity on a dry campus with no fraternities. It also may have been the appointment of President Dr. Robert Oxnam and all his support that accelerated our team’s success. Also, the guidance and coaching of a graduate student from “Down Under,” John Hinchcliff, helped develop the former football players into ruggers.

Our first official coach, Steve Carnahan, helped develop our work ethic. We worked harder than our competitors. We had an “A” team, a “B” team, and a “C” team schedule. It seemed everyone wanted to be on the team.

By Dwight’s senior year, the Drew Rugby Team was not only one of the toughest on the East Coast, but we were all best friends.

And we still are.

Hunt Jones wasn’t at Drew solely for education or to avoid Vietnam as he was to play rugby, the sport introduced to him after transferring from Syracuse, which would become tantamount — for multiple reasons, on fields in many continents and countries. A nine-minute match on the wrestling mat was pure punk to Hunt compared to rugby. It was akin to a drug he could not live without: 80 minutes of ecstasy every game, sometimes three games per day. It was a way for him to apply psychology, physical tricks, and force against a loosehead and hooker, all simultaneously, as well as wrenching in a maul and tackling.

Subsequently, with Hunt’s successive corporate promotions, a perk became five weeks of vacation time or time granted used for extended tournaments in other countries, sometimes combined with office visits.

Hunt says the most important perk was, and is, a nearly 60-year friendship with Drew RFC teammates, lesser with those from successive teams, but the same bonding. He notes that, without Don Clarke’s (DRFC HoF 2022) introduction to Susan (Rea) Jones C’69, G’80, before a 1966 early rugby practice, the other perk, he may have been married to only the game. Only the inability to stand, walk, or run due to knee hyperextensions forced the end of that long love affair. The other continues.

Bob Alagna broke into the “A” side in the Spring semester of his freshman year. He was a winger for the backfield. John Soler, who was two years Bob’s senior and played wing forward, gave him the name ‘Italian Stallion’ due to his prowess as a ball carrier. In the four years Bob played (1972 through 1976), Bob scored the most points for DRFC. On the defensive aspect of the game, Bob played with reckless abandon — forgoing any thoughts of getting hurt. Bob’s theory was, “Whoever was playing opposite from me was going to get hit hard the first time they touched the ball. That is how you strike fear into your opponent.” In his senior year, he was voted ‘Best Back’ despite missing the last two games of the season due to a broken knee. Alagna would go on to play rugby with the San Diego R.F.C. (1978–1979) and the El Paso R.F.C. while an Army 2nd Lieutenant in 1981. After that, Bob shipped out to Europe as a nuclear missile officer for NATO, ending his rugby career.

Bob still lives on Long Island and is the founder and owner of B and R Homes. He is the proud grandfather of Remington (age 5) and Guinevere (age 3). His hobbies include playing chess, military model building, and party boat fishing.

Dave Codell started playing rugby in the late 1990s, following in the footsteps of his father, who played for First City Troop in the early 1970s.

He played for Drew University from 2002 to 2006, where he was a four-year Club Officer and a three-year Team Captain. After graduation, Dave continued to play for Second City Troop and Schuylkill River (the clubs merged) until 2019. He also served as Club President for both organizations.

Currently, Dave helps coach the Philadelphia Gryphons, the local inclusive rugby club, and has also coached Troop Youth, Narberth Otters, Haverford College, Cabrini University, and various flag/rookie rugby programs.

Some other highlights of Dave’s rugby career include volunteering with Rugby Pennsylvania in an effort to get rugby into our local PE curriculum, his work as President of the Eastern Pennsylvania Rugby Union, and his involvement with Atlantis Rugby. He currently serves as a National Competitions Committee member for the Senior Club Council on the 7s Committee.

Harry Litwack graduated from Drew University in 1971 with a BA, majoring in Sociology with an Anthropology minor. Harry went on to earn his MA in School Psychology while also studying Educational Administration and receiving New Jersey teaching and Principal\Supervisor certifications from what is now Rowan University. Harry also has a certificate in Filmmaking from New York University. Harry has had two careers; education and film production. The mentoring skills he gained at Drew on the rugby pitch and in classrooms have been a lifelong guiding focus throughout his life and career.

Arriving at Drew from Vineland, NJ, in the fall of 1967, he saw his first rugby match, thinking, “What the hell are these guys doing and why?” He SOON found out in the spring of 1968, putting aside basketball and baseball to learn a new sport…RUGBY. His freshmen year roommate, John Marinaro, convinced him to try out for the rugby team. After Drew, John was one of the founders of the Morris County Rugby Club. In 1971, John’s cousin, Ed Marinaro, was runner-up for the Heisman Trophy as a running back at Cornell. It was not uncommon during this period for varsity football players to play Spring Rugby.

It was the Sixties. Litwack was also involved with the social committee (great concerts), student government, theater, and intramurals, as well as co-founding and co-editing a poetry magazine. He wanted a top-shelf Liberal Arts education, and Drew University provided it. He is thankful and has served Drew in various ways; Alumni Association (helping to establish Career Connections programs), class agent, and various activities supporting Drew.

Ironically, what most interested Harry in attending Drew was that there wasn’t a football team or fraternities. DREW’s answer is RUGBY. During his freshmen and sophomore years, he was coached and mentored by Steve Carnahan, who very calmly directly explained the game strategies, angles, and nuances of what you could or couldn’t do and/or try and get away with on the pitch. Coach Carnahan taught him how to be a prop. As an A team player, Harry went from tight head prop to loosehead prop and kicker as a sophomore, to fly half his Junior year, to wing forward or wherever he was needed his Senior year.

As an 18-year-old, he was the only freshman on the A team after playing one B game. In 1968 he played tight head prop on the A side that beat Army at West Point. The following year he helped lead our A side to a 10–0 shutout of Princeton, the Ivy League’s premier side. He was a defensive stalwart in that game, as the Acorn noted, with not only scoring 4 pts on kicks but launched a 75-yard kick to blunt Princeton’s offense early in the match. Drew won the Schaeffer Cup that year, beating Princeton and Rutgers. Dan Boyer, Dwight Davies, Biff Clark, and Harry were the only four ruggers who played in Historical Army and Princeton Victories. Steve Carnahan was the coach for both games.

One of his on-field jobs was to protect the jumpers in lineouts. No jumpers were ever submarined when Harry protected them. Harry also excelled as a prop helping the hookers win balls in scrums. He enjoyed being a contributing kicker his sophomore year. As one, if not the last, one of the last straight-on-toe kickers. He followed the kicking tradition of John Hinchliffe and Don Clarke, last year’s DRFC HOF inductees. Harry took pride in learning rugby, defending Drew, teaching, and mentoring. He is proud to be part of the early illustrious history of the DRFC.

Harry Litwack would like to thank ALL his teammates [A, B, and C squads], coaches, and the DRFC players and Alums he has gotten to know over six decades. Ball coming in NOW.

Onwards and Upwards!!

Bob Ficalora C’79 arrived at Drew in the fall of 1975 and joined the rugby club in the fall of 1976. Bob had an immediate impact both on and off the pitch. As a player, Fic brought a mix of passing, kicking, and running experience, as well as tenacious defense, to the fly-half position, which greatly improved the team’s performance. Along with Mike Smith, Fic Captained the highly successful 1978-1979 seasons, with 1979 being one the most successful in Drew Rugby history.

Bob had as much value off the pitch as on. Through innovative fund-raising and recruitment of many younger players, his legacy lasted long after his playing days.

After leaving Drew, Bob married Helen (Schneiderman) Ficalora, C’82, and had a long career with IBM. Bob and Helen, who live in Florida, have two sons, Lennon and Marley, and three grandchildren, granddaughter Montauk, and grandsons Sonny and Malibu.

Frank Bockius Moyes (Bock) started playing rugby at the Down’s School in England at eight and continued playing at Bedford School. He also played for the Midlands U18 team and was probably on his way to playing for England, except that he was too small and too slow. So, he took the road less traveled, enrolled at Drew University in the United States, and joined the DRFC in the Fall of 1988.

As one of the only club members with ingrained rugby DNA, he was elected a team captain in his inaugural season and had an immediate impact as starting scrum half. His natural position was Fly Half, but Senior Joe Somerville was not giving that up! They were a dynamic duo that first season. The club that year had some notable freshman members other than Bock that made a significant impact, including Eric Stofman, Paul Skilton, Daine Grey, Sam Hijab, Marco Cavallaro, and Greg Gordon (the latter mostly as beer-meister).

The transition to rugby in the United States wasn’t totally smooth for Bock. There were some challenging moments, especially for his (no longer) quite handsome visage. Our opponents knew he was the lynchpin of our offense, and they let him know it. Our pack figured out quickly we had to protect our prized asset.

Bock captained the team for the entirety of his career at Drew from 1988 – 1992, starting at Fly Half of Sophomore through his Senior year. Although statistics were not consistently recorded in those ancient days, we are pretty sure he led the team in tries, missed penalty kicks, and broken noses. He also was consistently selected for and started on the NY Met Union college select side.

During his tenure as captain, we had robust club membership, easily fielded a full A and B side all four years, had mostly winning seasons, and hosted four Drew-UPS Rugby invitational tournaments. Finally, Bock was integral in coaching and supporting the Drew Woman’s rugby team during its inaugural year.

After graduating Drew Bock continued to play rugby for Union RFC in New Jersey, hanging up his boots in 1998. Except, of course, for sporadic appearances at DRFC old-boy matches.

He currently resides in Wyomissing, PA, where he lives with his four sons – Cooper (21), Jackson (19), Ben (15), and William (8). He is an Emergency Medicine physician at Reading Hospital.

Emily “Riggsy” Riggs Fennessey arrived on the Drew Campus in 1992 and was quickly attracted to the nascent Drew Women’s Football Club. She played all four years — almost always at the wing. Who would have thought the team’s first try wouldn’t happen until the Fall of 1995 — or that Riggsy would be the one to score it? (The ball didn’t get out cleanly to the wing all that often in the early years.) But that is what happened: Emily recalls — all Emily recalls — about that momentous event is that she had the ball within a maul and rode her teammates into the try zone, where she touched it down. It remains to be confirmed whether the conversion was successful.

While that try was a highlight of her Drew rugby career, the friendships she had among her teammates are what she remembers most fondly, and they have endured to this day.

When not playing rugby, Emily majored in psych. and minored in studio art. She received her Master’s in Social Work in 2000 from Simmons University in Boston. Emily lives in Ridgefield, CT, with her husband, Bob, and three children Amelia (19), Caraline (16), and James (14). She currently works as an LMSW for Benchmark Infant and Toddler Services.

Bill Bernhard played Fullback for Drew Rugby from 1978 to 1981, earning the title of MVP in 1979, 1980, and 1981. Bill also served as team captain in 1981.

In March 1982, he participated in a tour of England and Ireland with Montclair “Face-Crushers” RFC. From 1982 to 1984, Bill played for the Long Island RFC, serving as team captain in 1983. Following this, he went on to the Washington Rugby Club until 1990 and was MVP in 1985. Bill helped make WRFC Potomac Union Rugby Champions 1984-1990. Bill’s accomplishments continue as Potomac Rugby Union Select Side Fullback 1985-1989 and Eastern Rugby Union Select Side Fullback 1985-1989.

Bill has multiple MVP titles, including ERU vs. Japan Game MVP 1986 and ERU Championships 1988. His playing brought him to US national level as a part of the USA Eagles, when he was selected in February 1987. He led the team to victory many times that year, but was, unfortunately, injured and could not compete for the USA Eagles Rugby World Cup Team in Australia. He was back in action for the Atlantis (Select Side 7’s Team) Tour of Scotland in the fall of 1988.

Don played every Drew A game from his first semester on campus in the fall of 1965 until the second semester of his junior year in the spring of 1968. He then joined the Army and Helicopter Fight School followed by one tour in Vietnam as a Cobra Pilot in the Air Cavalry.

Don re-enrolled at Drew in January 1971 as a second-semester junior and then played every A game in spring and fall of 1971 and spring 1972, when he graduated with a BA in Political Science.

In 1974 Don co-founded the Princeton Athletic Club. Don played A side #8 for PAC in 1974 and spring 1975, except for two weekends when he had Army National Guard Duty. Don then moved to Washington, DC and played #8 for Sud Americano A’s from 1975-1980. He was selected for the Potomac Rugby Union Select side as a #8 in 1979. He retired from the pitch the first time in 1980 and ran marathons for the next three years. Don then played a season with the LA Rugby Club “Lunchtime Legends” old boys team in 1990 and decided it was indeed time to retire from rugby.

With the exception of his first two years at Drew, Don always played #8 and took all the penalty kicks. He played second row in his first two years because fellow inductee John Hinchcliff played #8 and did the kicking.

While records and statistics from his era at Drew are sparse, he was likely the leading scorer at Drew during his nine seasons there. Don was the second-leading scorer at Princeton Athletic Club during his time there and had a “try hat trick” during one match.

John began playing team rugby as a nine-year-old at primary school. At Nelson College, his high school, which echoed the British tradition, rugby became a more serious matter to John at age 13. The rugby team was recognized as one of New Zealand’s best. John experienced the same commitment to playing at Canterbury University for three years (1959-61), playing (mostly) loose forward.

He then decided to take leave from rugby, just temporarily, to focus on studies for a future profession. He gained a Rotary scholarship to study in Israel for a year and later began studying for a Doctorate at Drew, which gave John the awesome answer he sought. It allowed him to enjoy rugby again, at the “very pleasant, friendly and caring campus.” His memories include a group of committed players who became a strong platform to develop a fine team.

John’s next position, after four years at Drew, was to teach Philosophy at Hampton-Sydney College in Virginia. In terms of rugby, he found this was similar to Drew. There was a similarly small and dedicated group of enthusiasts. They enjoyed the game.

John says “I retain my enjoyment and admiration for the game from the comfort of my armchair.”