Athletes thrive on the intensity of competition. Determination, teamwork, talent and greatness — this is what we all love to see in great sports.

While channel-surfing on TV, many sports junkies have probably caught a glimpse of a rugby match — the brutality, the speed and the vicious hits that are involved. When a pad-less player gets drilled by an opponent, sending the ball airborne, a resounding “Oooooooh!” echoes through the audience. So what are these guys thinking?

“Rugby players have a different mentality,” said freshman rugby player Kyle Sullivan. “You have no pads, no protection — it’s just you against the other guys. Fifteen guys on fifteen guys just hitting each other — it’s awesome.”

“We love the game; we love the intensity,” said freshman Cornell Rugby treasurer Benjamin Davies. “The adrenaline you get from playing rugby — from scoring trys and winning — it’s unbelievable. We have such great team spirit, so that keeps us all coming back.”

Rugby is a fast-paced sport: aside from the fact that many rugby players are in peak physical condition through offseason training regimens, the game runs for a continuous 80 minutes with only a half-time to break the action. With the main goal of scoring a “try” whenever possible — analogous to a touchdown in American football — the rugby team has to be a smooth, well-oiled machine on the field. Indecisiveness during a play can lead to huge mistakes that affect the entire team.

“The communication on the rugby field is very different,” Sullivan said. “Rugby is continuous — it’s not like football where you get a break between plays. You are consistently making your decisions on the field by yourself.”

Strategy is a crucial part to any rugby team’s success: from player positions to better execution and timing of plays, rugby players are constantly a step ahead of the action. While the smashing collisions and rough hits characteristic of every rugby match might be most obvious to the observer, most do not realize the many rules that need to be taken into account to secure a victory: a well-rounded combination and application of intelligence, instinct and toughness is needed to win.

“[Rugby] has a lot of rules and technicalities,” Davies said. “A lot of people might think it’s just a bunch of guys running into each other, but there’s a lot of strategy and technical skill is involved.”

Rugby players need to put their bodies through a lot — superior endurance, strength and power are just the minimum requirements that a starter must show in order to compete on the field. Since the sport’s roots are planted firmly in the U.K. as a national pastime for the working and middle classes, rugby has become a dominant institution in many European and international cultures similar to the status of the NFL in the U.S. While many professional and college athletes are physically gifted, rugby players must have versatility in their talent — they must be able to combine incredible strength with quickness, speed and agility.

“Rugby evolved from soccer, and football evolved from rugby,” Davies said. “So a rugby player needs to be a mix between a football player and a soccer player — you have to have the physical strength of a football player and the skill to run like a soccer player for 80 minutes straight.”

Even though winning and improving are the main goals for the Cornell Rugby team, the camaraderie between the players is also a noticeable aspect to their success in competition. Cooperation at every team event, practice and exhibition ensures that the team will function as one cohesive unit come game-day.

“The ultimate goal of the rugby team is to improve at every practice and match,” Sullivan said. “Winning matches also is a nice bonus, without a doubt. What keeps me showing up is my love for the game and the bunch of great guys that we have on the team.”

Cornell Rugby is on the rise: with a respectable 3-3-0 record last fall, the team asserted itself as a force in the Ivy conference that has a lot of potential to improve and to build on their previous victories. With wins in the fall over Canisius College (W, 33-0) and SUNY Binghamton (W, 22-19), the rugby team plans to make an impact on the upcoming spring season.

“Our overarching goal in our practices and competitions is mainly to prepare and maintain ourselves as rugby powerhouses in New York State,” Davies said. “Even this spring, we have a couple tournaments: we’re travelling to the Cherry Blossoms Tournament in Washington, D.C. on Friday, and we also had the Ivy League Tournament at the end of March at Columbia University. We want to build on past successes and represent Cornell at the highest level.”

Next time you’re able to see a Cornell rugby match — with all of the split-second decisions, the physical pain and the constant mental stress — just remember: that’s exactly what they signed up for.