There are no bleachers at the ISU rugby field, but approximately 120 spectators attended the Iowa State-Northern Iowa men’s rugby scrimmage on Saturday anyway.

They stood or sat in the grass — or on a ragged couch that a few fans dragged out to the field. The spectators drank beer and cheered on the team.

“I wish [the team] would have won,” said Dan Kaminski, junior in animal ecology. “It was very entertaining — in fact, it was better than watching football.

Although the Cyclones lost 10-7, in their first competition of the year, the squad still has high expectations for the rest of the season.

“We definitely expect to qualify for the national tournament,” said coach Dan Gazda, graduate student in chemistry. “The past three years we have finished in the top four in Midwest Division II Collegiate Rugby.”

The rugby team has built a rivalry with the UNI squad.

“UNI is probably our main rival,” Gazda said. “We are pretty much the top two collegiate squads of Iowa.”

Although there are several similarities between rugby and football, Gazda sees some differences between the two sports.

“It is a continuous, flowing game similar to American football, but, actually, American football evolved from rugby,” Gazda said. “The main difference is that the contact is more controlled; you have to wrap up. Even though the rugby players do not wear pads, it is a lot safer than football.”

The rugby club has decades of history at Iowa State.

“The Iowa State rugby club goes back to the 1960s, started by the vet-med overseas students,” Gazda said. “It still is not too hard to find guys with an interest to play.”

If the 60-member rugby team wants to make it to nationals, they need hours of practice, Gazda said.

During the past seasons, members of the team have gained high recognition.

“Jason York, Clay Buster and Jon Taylor were All-Midwest selections last year,” Gazda said. “Also, Jose Vargas and Mark Bokhoven went to the University of Otago at New Zealand to study and play rugby.”

Players come to compete for Iowa State for different reasons, but most said they enjoy the social aspect of the ISU team.

“I started playing rugby back when I was a freshman,” Bogenrief said. “I knew people in the dorms that played, and they told me to come and play. I instantly liked the competition and the fun associated with it.”