Local rugby players from the Magic City Marmots and Missoula Maggots battle it out on the lawn of Rose Park on the Billings West End on Saturday, March 18. (Michael Marino photo)
by Michael J. Marino
The Magic City Marmots, a Billings rugby team, held their first game of the season taking on the Missoula Maggots, on Saturday, March 18 at Rose Park.
Both teams played with intensity, but Missoula won with a score of 43-17. Players reported the Marmots were in good spirits despite the loss, and the two teams went to dinner with each other at Pepper’s after the matchup.
The game of rugby was first developed in the early 1800s in England by students at Rugby School. It is a “rough and tumble” close contact sport, ironically also known as “football,” and it is not for the faint of heart.
Lane Lyseng is a Marmot player and serves as President for the Montana Rugby Club. Lyseng said the club is comprised of six teams from around the state including the Magic City Marmots – who used to be known as the Billings Bulls.
“We had some great success in the past,” said Lyseng, “and then COVID came around, and we weren’t allowed to practice [or] play games, and the [Rugby Union] shut down.” This effectively took rugby off the scene in Montana at that time.
Then in April 2022, a club meeting was called to discuss what their future looked like. After that, Lyseng says, “We just hit the ground running.” They quickly went from eight people at April’s meeting to 24 active players.
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