Local rugby team plays for love of the game

By day, they are teachers, salesmen, carpenters, plumbers, students and entrepreneurs. There is also one lawyer - and he makes a compelling case for why they all care so much about rugby.

"Sometimes, I'll come off a weekend and go to court with a black eye, maybe two," said Tyler Cathey, an attorney with Holland & Knight. "It's a rough sport. We don't have pads. We have a mouth guard - that's it.

"We're not professionals. We don't get paid to do this. But we're all in this together. We love to practice and we love to play. This is our passion."

Cathey is team captain for the Tampa Bay Krewe, a 20-year-old organization that is suddenly putting Florida amateur rugby on the national map. The Krewe have advanced to the USA Rugby Division II Final Four, set for next Saturday and Sunday in Denver.

The national championship would be the punctuation mark on a stunning season (20-1 with the only loss coming to a Boca Raton team that plays in a higher division).

But Krewe coach David "Dai" Morgan, a Welshman who grew up playing rugby, said it also might signal a new beginning for the sport in the Tampa Bay area.

"Things are happening - and they are happening quickly," Morgan said.

The Krewe are establishing an under-19 team and wants to form teams for younger ages as well. It also has helped incorporate "Rookie Rugby," a flag version of the sport into Hillsborough County schools physical-education programs. Morgan also believes that rugby will continue to grow as a club sport at the high-school level.

"The Tampa Bay area actually has become one of the sport's hot spots," said Eric Saunders, the Krewe's team president.

The Krewe have an active roster of 70 players - more than twice as much as similar clubs. Morgan has aggressively recruited to achieve several layers of depth. The Krewe's roster resembles a melting pot - it includes players from Serbia, Croatia, New Zealand, South Africa, Argentina, England, Italy and the Philippines.

"But these guys are united behind one goal," Morgan said.

So is the entire rugby community.

The Bay Area Pelicans, established in St. Petersburg in 1977, are helping to subsidize travel expenses for three former Pelican players, who now compete for the Krewe.

"I played for the Pelicans since 1988 (until this season), but this is my first shot at the Final Four, so I feel like I'm getting a shot at the dance," said Christopher "Guido" DeAnnuntis, 46, the Krewe's oldest player and a senior research associate with USF's Center for Urban Transportation Research. "Some of these guys are half my age, but that makes it more fun.

"This has always been fun for me. I like the physical contact, the fitness, the close-knit nature of this team, all of it. The fact that we have reached this level, it's just the icing on the cake."

The Krewe face Snake River, Idaho - a club with three former Boise State University football players - in Saturday's national semifinals. The winner takes on either Doylestown, Pa., or the Golden Gaters of San Francisco for the national title.

The Krewe nearly were bounced out in the round of 16, trailing Chicago 17-0 with 20 minutes remaining before rallying to win 26-17.

"We have come this far," Cathey said. "I think we're pretty determined to take this thing the whole way."