All in good scrum for Fremd graduate
Dan Mangan had a feeling his younger brother Mike might like a good scrum.
Mike Mangan was looking for a way to sustain the competitive drive he had as a football and basketball player at Fremd High School and as a three-year starter in football at Eastern Illinois University.
Rugby wasn't exactly the first sport that came to mind.
"(Dan) said, 'When you get done with football, you've got to play this sport. It's awesome,'æ" Mangan said of his brother, who played at Winona State University. "I didn't even know anything about the sport.
"I saw it as something to do to stay competitive, have some fun and stay in shape."
At 31, Mangan is still reaping all of those benefits and more from rugby. The 1993 Fremd graduate is on the U.S. men's national team, which will be going to France in September for the 2007 Rugby World Cup.
At 2 p.m. on Aug. 26 at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Mangan will compete before family and friends as the U.S. team plays Munster, the Heineken (European) Cup Champions from Ireland, for the Setanta Challenge Cup.
"I can't wait," Mangan said. "It's huge. I started my rugby career (in Chicago) and have a lot of family there. A lot of people are coming out."
Mangan, who now lives in Denver, left Fremd with a memorable athletic career. As a senior he helped the football team to a perfect regular season. He was the fourth-leading scorer in the Class AA basketball tourney as the Vikings took fourth place.
After he was finished playing football as a tight end at Eastern Illinois, the 6-foot-5, 260-pound Mangan followed his brother's advice. He played for the Northwest Woodsmen of Schaumburg for four years, then joined the Chicago Griffins, which led to his opportunity to play for the U.S. national team.
Mangan finds aspects of basketball and football in rugby at his "lock" position. He is one of the workhorses whose job includes pushing in scrums and knocking opponents off the ball.
"Once I got to the lock position, it reminds me a lot of blocking on the line as a tight end," Mangan said. "So that came easily."
Not that it's easy to be running for 80-minute games.
"It's so taxing and tiring it becomes mental," he said.
The sport has given Mangan, who now plays for the semi-pro Barbarians club in Denver, opportunities he never imagined. He's traveled to Japan, Canada and Uruguay and will be playing before more than 40,000 people in each World Cup game.
"It's the chance of a lifetime," Mangan said.
The United States is not considered a rugby power and will have its hands full with England and South Africa in its pool. The U.S. team won its first World Cup game four years ago, and Mangan said the goal is to exceed that.
For Mangan, who has worked in sales, the World Cup presents an opportunity to market his game. A handful of Americans play professionally in Europe, he said.
"The World Cup is the best venue for being exposed for that," he said. "It's definitely something I would consider."
He's fortunate that his wife of four months, Clare Sullivan, is supportive of his passion for rugby. He's in no hurry to get out of a sport he got into thanks to his brother.
"You almost get swept up in the rugby community and subculture," Mangan said.
If you go
What: Setanta Challenge Cup (USA Eagles vs. Ireland's Munster Rugby)
When: 2 p.m. Aug. 26 at Toyota Park in Bridgeview
Tickets: $25 through TicketMaster at (312) 559-1212, www.ticketmaster.com or through the Toyota Park box office (708) 594-7700
On the Web: For more on the U.S. team, visit usarugby.org.