Georgetown graduate Finn Tomlin helped the fledgling Rio Grande men’s rugby program post an undefeated fall season in 2021, the program’s first year in existence. Photo by Randy Payton, Rio Grande Athletics.
Georgetown graduate Finn Tomlin’s Rio Grande journey began on the track two years ago. Where it’s taken him since nobody could have predicted.
After two seasons on the track and field team, Tomlin is now helping Rio Grande’s fledgling rugby team make an impact in the program’s first seasons of existence.
He didn’t know it at the time, but Tomlin’s rugby story began on a football field in Brown County.
“I played football in high school,” Tomlin said. “Rugby is kind of similar to football. I played for the Eastern Brown club team and when Georgetown got theirs I played there for one year. I was more on the track, I came to Rio Grande originally on a track scholarship.”
That football experience would eventually help him make the transition to rugby after a few seasons on the track team.
“You can only throw lateral passes, you can throw behind you,” Tomlin said. “That football experience really helped me when it came to aggressiveness and the contact that came along with the sport. You’re tackling with no pads, you don’t wear helmets. That aggressiveness, that grittiness that football taught me carried over well and I think that’s my biggest specialty.”
Tomlin continued, noting that mentality was something he had to adjust as his familiarity with rugby grew.
“Rugby is an incredibly team-oriented sport,” Tomlin said. “In football, you have a few superstars. That was a habit I had to kick when I was playing rugby, my idea of being the best dude on the team or scoring the most tries I had to kick that mentality because it’s 15 against 15. You have to rely on your teammates to score, to run, to do anything or else you’re just not good.”
While on the track and field team at Rio Grande, Tomlin ran in the mid-distance while majoring in business. Rio Grande track coach Adrian Pilkington saw Tomlin and a few of his teammates in the gym and suggested they try out.
“I wasn’t really that into it,” Tomlin said. “I think I was just going to stick to track. My roommate convinced me to come out to a practice. It was an open field they were doing over the summer. I knew nothing about the sport, went out there and ended up picking it up pretty quick.”
There were still some growing pains.
“The first two or three weeks, I didn’t know what I was doing,” Tomlin said. “We started getting into the season and I was loving it. Now I’m a full-time rugby player, I don’t run track anymore.”
Now, Tomlin can help others understand the sport he’s fallen in love with.
“It’s kind of a mix between football and soccer,” Tomlin said. “It’s got the continuous play of soccer because you have 45-minute halves but it’s got the contact. It’s a gentleman’s sport, once or twice I’ve seen a fight but it’s a really different culture.”
The physicality of the game is something Tomlin thinks could appeal to a wide range of American sports fans.
“You have that gritty, American aggressiveness and I don’t understand why it’s not more popular around here, it’s fun to watch,” Tomlin said. “It’s just a warrior sport, you have to have a team who is willing to take hits and give hits. It’s very team-oriented.”
This past season, the Red Storm went 18-5-1 overall and a perfect 7-0 in conference play. The team finished the fall regular season 9-0 overall and took down Xavier 34-26 to start postseason play before bowing out in the next round.
College rugby isn’t structured like most other college sports. The National Collegiate Rugby Association manages the fall tournament and teams are in three divisions: Division I, Division II and the Small College Division.
Rio Grande was in the small college division this past season. This year they’ll compete in Division II where Tomlin has an eye on leading the team to a national title.
“I really have just fallen in love with the sport, the culture around it,” Tomlin said. “I want a National Championship, I want to get a ring, but I want to be a leader of the team and bring our team success in as many ways as possible. My biggest goal is to bring a team together and build a national championship team.”
