December Coach's Corner: Course Correction

Four league games. Four losses. That’s the reality we’re sitting with as a program right now, and there’s no spinning it. Results matter, and 0–4 is not the standard for UW Men’s Rugby. But this point in the season is also where teams decide who they are going to be—when it’s uncomfortable, when expectations haven’t been met, and when the easy option is to point fingers or check out.

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We’re choosing a different path.

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The first step in course correcting was honesty. As a coaching group, we challenged our senior leadership directly. Not about talent or knowledge of the game, but about example. Leadership isn’t a title you wear on game day; it’s how you train, how you prepare, and how you respond when things aren’t going well. We made it clear that we need seniors leading from the front—showing up to workouts, pushing standards at training, and putting in the work that winning rugby requires.

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To their credit, the seniors responded exactly how we hoped they would.

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Rather than deflect or wait for coaches to fix things, they took ownership. They called team meetings without coaches in the room. They had hard conversations with each other. Most importantly, they set their own standards—clear expectations around effort, preparation, and accountability that apply to everyone, not just first-years or rookies. That kind of leadership matters. Culture doesn’t change because it’s written on a whiteboard; it changes when players demand more of themselves and their teammates every day.

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A major piece of that standard moving forward is strength and conditioning accountability over the break. There’s no way around it: if we want to compete physically in January, the work has to be done now, when no one is watching. Our California tour will be fast, physical, and unforgiving. We can’t show up hoping fitness will magically appear after a few trainings. Every player has been given clear expectations around S&C, and seniors have committed to holding the group accountable—not just by checking boxes, but by setting the tone themselves.

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This isn’t about punishment or panic. It’s about building a foundation that actually holds up when things get hard. The margin between winning and losing at this level is often effort, cohesion, and preparation. Those are controllables. We can’t change the 0–4 record, but we can absolutely control how we respond to it.

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Our focus over the next stretch is simple: train with intent, prepare with purpose, and hold each other to the standards we claim to value. If we do that consistently, results will follow.

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January will be a measuring stick. Not just for how we play in California, but for who we’ve become as a team. The work starts now—and it starts with accountability.