By Aaron Wilson
Inside the SaberCats’ locker room, the culture is filled with camaraderie, leadership and a shared love for coffee shops.
When the top-seeded Western Conference division champions aren’t dominating rugby matches, they’re hanging out together off the field and enjoying the friendships of a close-knit, winning squad.
Between enjoying the coffee shops and restaurants of Houston, playing cards, Scrabble and taking in volleyball, the SaberCats are a team that turns activities into a fun pastime and an occasion to bond.
“We always have a good time,” Sam Hill said. “We’ve been doing a lot of coffee shops and exploring Houston. We’re always up for doing something. One-hundred percent, from my past experiences and now, it’s about how close the boys are and doing stuff off the pitch.
“From what I’ve heard, the team is a lot closer this year and we do a lot of stuff together outside of rugby. We have those friendships and that shows on the pitch. You work a little bit harder knowing that you’re looking after the guy next to you. It all shows.”
Indeed, it has.
The SaberCats have built a 13-2 record head into a regular-season finale Saturday night against the Dallas Jackals.
The SaberCats have already earned home-field advantage in the playoffs and will host the fourth-seeded Jackals on July 20 in the semifinals.
Led by director Heyneke Meyer and coach Pote Human, the SaberCats have emphasized a team-first philosophy while juggling lineups throughout the season for strategic advantage.
“For most of the guys, this is their third season with the SaberCats,” Gideon van Wyk said. “When we came over here, we set a goal each year. We accomplished it the last two years, making the playoffs, but we fell short. This year, it’s all about the team. Our culture is right. The boys are getting along well. Hopefully, the culture can drive us through to the shield.”
van Wyk, a regular starter a year ago, recently rejoined the starting lineup after operating as a reserve earlier this season.
The South Africa native remained patient and waited for his turn.
“We don’t take things for granted,” van Wyk said. “You never know when your last game is going to come. I really enjoyed being back and I’ve been gaining momentum. Hopefully, I can stay out there on the field now that the team is closer to the playoffs. We trust our coaches to select the team. Our main goal is just to lift the shield at the end of the year.”
As a team captain, Nathan Den Hoedt has provided leadership all season. Whether it’s leading through words or deeds, the SaberCats have had an outstanding culture all season.
A year ago, veteran players Dean Muir and Danny Barrett were among the top leaders. Now, that mantle has been passed on to other players within the team structure.
“The coaches do a really good job of laying out what they want from you as a leader and they’ve certainly picked some great leaders in the past,” Den Hoedt said. “For myself, seeing Dean and Danny last year, I saw what the coaches were looking for.
“I believe to have a successful team, you’ve got to have a good family culture. In the preseason, we put an emphasis on that. That’s been kind of the cornerstone of where we’ve built from that. We knew if we can get the team enjoying each other’s company and spending time outside of training that we would be likely to work harder and show up for one another.”
And that approach has paid dividends within the team concept with authenticity.
“It’s one of those things you can’t fake it, or it will show very quickly,” Den Hoedt said. “In rugby, in particular and In Houston, everybody is brothers and wants to show up and help each other out and play for one another.
“The coaches have done a great job of assembling a squad where anyone can fill in at any time and play multiple positions and do their job very, very well. We’ve had a lot of guys who have sat out multiple weeks in a row and then have stepped up when they were needed. We’ve got that kind of mentality.”
