Among the eight inductees to the United States Rugby Hall of Fame for 2014 is Kevin Swords. In a storied career that began at Holy Cross, Kevin rose to the highest levels, including captaining the USA Eagles in the 1991 World Cup and being selected to play for the legendary Barbarians touring side.
Kevin and his seven fellow nominees will be honored at the Hall of Fame dinner in Houston on June 7th, before the USA Eagles clash against Scotland at the BBVA Compass Stadium.
Kevin’s first exposure to playing rugby was at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester MA, following in the footsteps of his brother Brian. Brian would later also go on to play for the Eagles. Two other brothers, John and Brendan, were accomplished rugby players as well, at Holy Cross and elsewhere. Kevin had played football and basketball in high school, and the freshman started to “fill out a little” he started attracting the attention of the school’s football coach, who saw him working out with his rugby buddies in the gym. But by then, Kevin had committed to rugby. Football’s loss would be rugby’s gain in this case.
In those days, the college game wasn’t as structured as it is today. There was no coach, and the weekend’s opponent often depended on who the football team was playing. “If football was playing Dartmouth, we would go watch the football game, then play Dartmouth in rugby”, Kevin explained. “The following week, it might be Army”.
Despite the lack of a coach, Holy Cross had significant success during Kevin’s time. While captaining the team in his senior year in 1982, Holy Cross enjoyed a very rewarding victory over Army, then as now an elite team. To date, Kevin is the only rugby player in the Holy Cross Varsity Club Hall of Fame, despite rugby being a non varsity sport at Holy Cross.
Upon graduating in 1982, Kevin was stationed in Washington DC with the Air Force, where he joined the Washington Rugby Club. His advancement in the club ranks was steady and just three years later, he got his first cap for the USA Eagles in a game against Japan. The game was played in Tokyo, and the USA emerged with a 16-15 win in the first ever meeting between the two countries.
Back in Boston between 1985 and 1994, Kevin joined the now defunct Beacon Hill Rugby Club, influenced to join by club members Mike O’Connor, Jack White and Steve Durant, among others. “I loved playing for Beacon Hill, it was a good team, we had good fun doing it, enjoyed some of the great local rivalries. There were several good teams in the area, with Charles River, Mystic River, Boston, Hartford and Providence all good teams, and with them all close you never had to travel far to get good competition”.
When the inaugural Rugby World Cup was held in 1987 in New Zealand and Australia, Kevin and the Eagles were based in Brisbane, Australia. The team enjoyed success against Japan in the first game before falling to England and host nation Australia. The last two games were played just four days apart, making the task of playing two of the top teams even more difficult.
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Kevin also played in the 1991 World Cup, where the Eagles were based in England. The schedule this time was even tougher, with the Eagles playing three games in six days against top level opponents – Italy, New Zealand and England. Italy was the best chance of getting a win on this trip, and when that did not happen “keeping the score close against the other teams was something of a moral victory”, Kevin recalls. See clip from the IRB’s recollection of the Eagle’s trip, featuring Kevin’s commentary (note Kevin’s try against Italy starting about 1.25 in “my claim to fame” he laughs):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOU0ko1XAuk
Kevin’s career with the Eagles lasted from 1985-1994, a stretch where Kevin won a then record 36 caps. The professional era was approaching fast, and the game officially became professional following the 1995 World Cup. “Towards the end you could see it, the game was much more on the road to being professional, some teams more than others. I remember when we first got per diems, we were delighted as we were not expecting it so it was like found money to us, but other teams thought it was strange as they were used to receiving such benefits”.
It was the level of competition that kept countries like New Zealand and England as good as they were. “At that level every country had good athletes” said Kevin “we improved from game to game in the World Cup. People asked why we played so much better against England than in the earlier games, and it was simply because we responded to the playing level, we were able to improve”.
Kevin credits his brothers for being such good early influences on his career, as well as coaches such as Randy Lionburger at Beacon Hill. “All the coaches were very important really, as there simply wasn’t as many games on TV to watch”.
Kevin works as a municipal bond trader and lives with his family in New Jersey, which includes four kids that range from age 15 to 11. Kevin’s main connection to the now revolves around youth or touch rugby, but we wouldn’t be surprised if some of the kids continue the family tradition of rugby excellence.
The seven other accomplished members of the Class of 2014 are long time administrator Anne Barry, legendary coach Jack Clark, Old Blue founder Dick Donelli, Denver Barbarians’ Terry Fleener, former Eagle Jay Hanson, accomplished former USA National coach Ron Mayes, and former Eagle and rugby administrator Tom Selfridge.
