Rugby was very foreign to most of us entering high school. We were brought up watching football on tv and playing it without pads with your friends.
What was this game called rugby where it seemed you could be kicked, smacked, tackled, punched, cleated and bitten, and love every minute of it.
Surely NWSS wouldn’t be very good at it, but thanks to the efforts of 3 teachers, Roger Phillips, Bill Smith (aka Big Red), and Ray Wickland, rugby had become one of the premier sports played at NWSS in the mid-1970’s. There were teams in all grades (8-12), in fact enough participation to have both a Senior A and Senior B team in 1975. That year, NWSS played for the BC Championship (New Zealand Shield) at Brockton Oval, only to lose a very close match 13-7.
That team was captained by Steve Manning and included Scott Nielsen (‘75 Valedictorian) who went on to win four straight NCAA Men’s Division 1 Track & Field Championship titles in the Hammer Throw for the University of Washington 1976-1979.
Phillips, Smith, and Wickland grew a formidable rugby program where in the 70’s & 80’s, rugby became more popular than football.
NWSS became a strong feeder of players to the local club side, Pocomo. It was this contribution of players that supported this average club to becoming champions in many divisions.
So, thanks to Roger, Bill, Ray and all the other coaches for exposing us to this barbaric game played by gentlemen and making us pretty damn good at it.
Bill Bain & Howard Walton
Class of ‘76