After finishing fourth in the standings last season, Lindenwood’s men’s rugby team is hoping to have a stronger season this spring.

The men’s national championship has been cancelled in both of the past two seasons. This year, they are hoping to have a return to the big stage with the help of some rule changes that are being put in place.

“We are going to shave the field. In the past we’ve done 16 teams,” head coach Josh Macy said. “We’re going to do 12 now just to kind of cut out some of those first round blowouts. Our sevens championships will be back, we have two sevens championships, one on NBC, one on CBS. Things are looking up for our sport and we’re looking to really launch ourselves out of COVID and in an impressive fashion.”

The players are excited to get back on the field and be with their teammates again. Macy spoke highly about the team’s chemistry.

“It’s good, they really balance being competitive and being laid back at the same time,” Macy said. “There’s times when they’re all frothing at the mouth and climbing over the top of each other. Then there’s times when they’re laughing and shaking hands and just enjoying each other’s company.”

Junior prop Cameron Meechan said that he is excited to get back and be playing this semester.

“Just to get back into playing with the boys and putting on the shirt,” Meechan said. “We’ve got a really good shot at the national championship this year so it will be an exciting season for us.”

For the past few years, Lindenwood’s biggest rival, Life University, has been the top dogs of D1A
rugby. In the 2021 spring season, Lindenwood played Life twice. They won one and lost one.

Although the Lindenwood had some of their best players get drafted into Major League Rugby this year,
they are looking to come back stronger than ever and better prepared for Life.

“They’ve been tops dogs for the past few years and it’s always a good match whenever we come against them. It will be interesting to see how we fair up against them this year.”

The Lions’ first game in the 2022 spring season is Feb. 12, at Life University in Atlanta.
Lindenwood will take two teams, a first side and second side and play two games.