Rugby requires all 15 players to perform at the same level in order to win, and when team chemistry isn’t there, there is a slim chance for success.

That was the boat the ISU Rugby Club was stranded on last year.

Last season, the club returned almost every starter and had high expectations — for a good reason. With team chemistry at an all-time high, the club was destined for a run deep in the national tournament, but injuries to key players caused setbacks early in the season.

And those players never really recovered from those injuries.

“We came in with high expectations, but ultimately underperformed last season,” said senior Matt Kriha. “Injuries to key players offset our on-field chemistry and hurt us.”

Kriha, who is serving as the president of the club, runs the day-to-day communications between the club and university. His role also involves planning off-field activities, booking fields for practice and setting up travel plans.

“My goal as the team president is to get the club back to the Sweet 16, but we need to take it one game at a time to get there,” Kriha said.

Like last year, the club again has high expectations. It has welcomed in about 15 new players who have the talent to get the team back to nationals.

To prepare for the season, the club hosted its annual two-a-day camp, which started Aug. 14. The morning session, which was player-run, focused on conditioning and fitness. The afternoon session was run by the coaches and focused on skill work, but also featured more conditioning.

“The two-a-days are for returning guys, but this year we saw a lot of freshmen come out and participate,” said senior Anthony Frein. “That shows a lot about the team and how bad we want it.”

The club competes in the Heart of American Athletic Conference at the D-1AA level. Men’s rugby is not an NCAA sport, but some schools turn it into a varsity-level sport and offer scholarships to their players. Schools that offer scholarships often bring in international recruits.

But Iowa State isn’t one of those schools. 

“It is extremely tough to compete with the schools that offer scholarships,” Frein said. “We can hang with them, but they just are too much to stay with them for an entire match.”

The club will play 12 to 15 games each season, with seven of those games against conference foes. Arkansas and Missouri are two of the club’s toughest opponents. If the club wants to earn a trip to nationals, it will have to win its conference or obtain one of the four at-large bids.

“Our goal is to win conference and ultimately make it back to nationals,” said senior Ty Ash.

The club opens the season against rival Iowa at 5 p.m. Sept. 11 at the Southwest Athletic Complex.