Newton Rugby club team plays at home Friday

Yes, there is still rugby being played by Newton high school boys in 2017. The team is coached by Justin Liston, who took over completely with the departure of longtime coach Bill Reed. Reed, who is teaching in Des Moines, is still active with the Iowa Youth Rugby Association.

The Newton rugby club team plays two games each Friday during the IAYRA’s high school boys contact league season. The Cardinals are 1-9 overall this season and 1-4-0 in the Class 2A Blue Division.

Newton hosts one night of club games this season. Newton hosts nine other teams in games starting 6 p.m. Friday at H.A. Lynn Stadium. The Cardinals play at 6 p.m. against Indianola (2-8) then plays at 7:20 p.m. against Cedar Rapids Washington.

Other teams playing at Newton are Johnston, Urbandale, Iowa City, Des Moines Lincoln, Wolf Creek, Des Moines Hoover and Southeast Polk.

The IAYRA teams play rugby 7s, which is a cutdown version of rugby union. Everything is in sevens with seven players a side on the field and seven-minute halves. Tries — scoring plays — are seven points.

According to the IAYRA website, Newton lost 42-0 to Johnston and 56-0 to Roosevelt on March 31 to open the season then lost 35-7 to Ankeny Centennial and 77-0 to Ankeny on April 7. On April 14, Newton lost 49-0 to Urbandale and 21-7 to Dowling. On April 21, Newton lost 35-7 to Cedar Falls and 28-7 to Waterloo West.

The Cardinals’ lone win was 28-14 over Des Moines Hoover on April 28. They lost 28-7 to Valley. No player statistics were available.

Rugby is a club sport. It is not a sanctioned varsity sport by the Iowa High School Athletic Association or the Iowa Girls High school Athletic Union.

Contact Jocelyn Sheets at
641-792-3121 ext. 6535
or jsheets@newtondailynews.com