By Jeremy Jacob, Sports Editor
James Jackson might have taken one year off from rugby, but his love for the sport remained.
His prowess didn’t die out either as the Missouri Military Academy cadet signed to play rugby for Drury University in Springfield in a ceremony on April 30 in Barnard Hall at MMA. Drury added men’s and women’s rugby as a club sport in the 2022-23 academic year.
Jackson has rugby experience from his other high school years before coming to MMA this year. He started playing as a freshman at Strake Jesuit College Preparatory in Houston, Texas. He then played at various tournaments around the country in places like New Orleans, Louisiana, and Florida and for a semi-professional team in Montana and a team in Idaho.
“I guess I just started because it was one of those interesting sports that I might as well try it out,” Jackson said. “I just loved it.”
Jackson said he had “no clue” about rugby but loved the physicality with no pads when he started. He said he wrestled and played football for MMA but still prefers the feel of rugby and brotherhood that comes with it.
“It just brings a more physical aspect and more adrenaline,” Jackson said. “You’ve got to have good compatibility to have a good team.”
Rugby is a sport with a history that can be traced back to 1823 and involves two teams of 15 players trying to advance a ball past each other for 80 minutes. There is a fast-paced variation with two teams of seven playing for 14 minutes that has been an Olympic sport since 2016 and is the variation played in the 2025 Collegiate Rugby Championship Men’s Premier Cup in Maryland, where Drury was a participant last week.
After playing rugby at places of all sizes, Jackson said he felt most comfortable at NCAA Division I rugby program Drury when he visited its campus. He said he had offers from NCAA Divisions I and II after he started using the Next Phase Rugby app in his junior year.
“I ended up choosing Drury because it was a better fit,” Jackson said. “It’s just a more small and compact campus. That’s what I like about it.”
Jackson has had injuries from playing rugby but said injuries — except minor ones — aren’t that common. He said that rugby players are respectful and understand the proper technique in a “barbarians’s game played by gentlemen.”
“Determination and discipline is pretty much all you need to be successful at anything,” Jackson said. “It’s having that mental discipline of just going through the game because it’s really physical and painful.”
Jackson has enjoyed his life more since he started playing rugby and encourages others to try new things.
“Everyone should try rugby at least once,” Jackson said.
