Thunderbird wins MBA rugby tournament

November 6, 2005 On November 6, Thunderbird: The Garvin School of International Management Rugby Football Club were crowned champions after defeating the University of California at Berkeley: Haas School of Business 17-7 at the Ninth Annual Thunderbird Rugby Invitational tournament. Thunderbird was undefeated throughout the tournament, after playing five other teams over two days. Final scores were:
 * Thunderbird 14 beat Tobacco Rd (Duke/ UNC) 3
 * Thunderbird 12 beat Cornell 0
 * Thunderbird 7 beat Wharton 0
 * Thunderbird 11 beat Univ. of Texas 8
 * Thunderbird 17 beat Berkeley 7

In addition to the five teams above, Kellogg also participated in the tournament. Third place went to the University of Texas: McCombs School of Business. The tournament is held every year in spring at Thunderbird, and is open to rugby teams from MBA schools. This year’s tournament was held under beautiful weather at Thunderbird’s Glendale campus, and was watched by more than 250 participants and spectators.

“Our team performed admirably. After a difficult season finding our form in our own Arizona league, we managed to pull together and set up some great plays. Our forwards proved to be a solid force, and gained us much ground” said Thunderbird co-captain Mike Bruneau.

Team president, Scott Harper, commented “The tournament was great. The support from all of our fans and sponsors really helped us to put on an exciting event. We had a lot of very tough competitors, and were happy to win it against such strong teams.”

Fans were treated to two great days of rugby. Each game included two 20-minute halves, and each team was scheduled for three games on the first day, and two on the final day. The highlight of the tournament was live bull riding and steer wrestling that took place near the campus, drawing an audience of over 200 people.. Each team nominated a representative to see if they could stay on a bull the longest, as well as a team who could wrestle a steer the fastest.

Thunderbird RFC would like to thank the sponsors for their kind generosity and support. Sponsors for the tournament included Siemens, Wells Fargo, Trump Enterprises, the Thunderbird Student Government and the Thunderbird Alumni Rugby Association.