The 1972–73 Season
Rebuilt from the Columbia Missourian's digitized coverage of the club's spring 1973 campaign.
The Columbia Missourian's digitized archive picks up the club's story in January 1973, when the Tigers opened spring practice searching for a full-time coach. Acting coach Sterling Hayden ran Tuesday and Thursday night sessions to get the side ready for a schedule built around the St. Louis Easter Ruggerfest and the Rolla intercollegiate invitational.
The spring opened February 10 against the St. Louis Falcons — Heart of America champions five years running — in cold, slush and ankle-deep mud at Reactor Field, an 8–0 exhibition loss the Missourian covered as much for the mud and the sideline keg as for the rugby. A trip to Rolla brought a split (the first side fell 10–3, the second side won 11–3), and the club then battled through a soggy loss and draw against Iowa State and a loss and scoreless tie against the Kansas City Blues.
The Tigers saved their best for the tournaments. At the Midwest Intercollegiate Tournament in Rolla they routed Southwest Missouri State 62–3, beat Kansas, and won a Sunday-morning semifinal over Missouri-Rolla before falling to Central Methodist in the championship game — second place in a 14-team field. Two weeks later at the Easter Ruggerfest in St. Louis' Forest Park, Missouri blanked the St. Louis Rebels 10–0 and edged Indiana 16–9 in the semifinal before Central Methodist again took the final, 19–10, leaving the Tigers second in their division.
The University of Missouri yearbook, the Savitar, closed out the year with a page on the club that put numbers to the struggle. Club president Tom Leicht told it plainly: “There were just no good days all spring… In fact, against Iowa State, it was so wet that the field just wouldn't hold any more water.” Money was as short as the good weather — the club paid for equipment and uniforms out of dues and fundraisers, and one party netted the team $80. “We asked MSA for $1,900 this last spring. We'll be lucky to get $500,” Leicht said. Even so, the Savitar reckoned the side's record climbed to near the .700 mark, up from .500 the year before. You can read the full yearbook page here.
It was Hayden's last season in charge: he retired after completing his doctorate, and the Missourian later credited him with turning a club in disarray into a well-organized, successful one. The archive's coverage begins in January, so the fall 1972 record is still missing — if you played that fall, the form below is for you.
