Backing with the brothers

As an athlete, not many things can compare to playing your sports with a loved one, especially at the collegiate level. Matt and Sam Gatherum have made this dream come true and plan to embrace every second of it.

Matt, a junior majoring in psychology, and his brother Sam, a junior studying sports management, are not just members, but vital contributors to the USU Men’s Rugby Team.

They hail from Castle Rock, Colorado, but they moved to various states as children.

“We moved a lot during our childhood. I was born in Utah and then moved to Colorado, then Kansas and then North Carolina, which was probably my favorite place to live. And then we moved back to Colorado,” Matt said. 

Even though both now play rugby, during his youth, Matt had aspirations to pursue other sports in college. 

“As a kid, I played baseball, football and many different sports but never really tried rugby until coming here,” Matt said.

Sam, however, picked up the sport when the family moved to Colorado for the second time.

“I started playing rugby my freshman year of high school,” Sam said. “I was 14 and didn’t really know what I wanted to do. My family moved to Colorado that year, and I met a couple of guys who invited me to come and play. I learned the game from that point on and haven’t stopped playing, and I’ve loved it ever since.”

Matt became interested in the sport when he first arrived on campus.

“We knew some of the guys that were on the team, and we started to play touch rugby with them on Saturdays,” Matt said. “From there, I started to enjoy myself and looked forward to playing weekly.”

Matt joined the team in his first year. He immediately excelled at rugby and made many lifelong friendships through the sport, including with Cooper Nelson, a fellow freshman on the team.

“I met Matt my first year going into the spring rugby season. Matt just stuck out to me. He is a nice guy and a leader on the team. He was always vocal about what we should be doing better, and he brought the energy every practice,” Nelson said when recounting how he and Matt first met.

After the season, Matt and Nelson continued to remain close. Matt even served as a groomsman at Nelson’s wedding this past summer.

Nelson and Sam also became good friends through rugby.

“Sam is a leader and a great friend,” Nelson said. “He supports and shows his interest in the things that you do. He’s always there, willing to ask questions about how each person is doing and what they may need.”

Sam and Matt have made their marks on Utah State rugby, both on the pitch and off. They both noted the immense growth that the club has experienced since the beginning.

“It started off very slow. We only played about four games a semester, and it was against two teams, BYU and UVU. Then we moved up to playing more teams. We got a new coach, and it has just been a constant growth of the program and the team,” Matt said.

When asked about the growth, Sam said, “When I first got here, almost nobody joined the team. It felt like we would get around 20 players, and by the end of the season, we had maybe 15 guys who were still healthy. It got to the point where we changed some recruiting tactics, and now we are able to have around 40 guys on the team. We have been able to field two teams of 15 as well, which has been pretty good so far this year.”

Sam also serves as the rugby club’s vice president, which allows him to assist in the team’s steady growth.

“My responsibilities fall a lot on recruiting, social media and engagement,” Sam said.” A lot of times, it’s just being out in the community, getting us out there and helping with the HURD.”

On the pitch, the brothers wreak havoc on opposing teams and players. Sam plays the “number 8” position, which he describes as “having a responsibility on offense and defense, making sure that everyone is getting out of scrums quick, stopping any potential set plays that the other team has.” Meanwhile, Matt plays fullback, the rugby equivalent of a football safety. He is the last line of defense and plays a vital role in the kicking game.

The brothers have very different responsibilities on the field. Sam described Matt as being “a defensive presence. His position is like a safety in football. He is required to make a lot of one-on-one tackles when they’re running past us, and he’s that last guy.” Sam also noted, “It has been really fun watching him not only develop at that position, but really embrace it.”

“I would describe Sam as a leader,” Matt said. “He’s always doing something. He never takes a play off and is a very strong and intelligent rugby player. So, I would describe him as a leader of the team.”

The two’s opportunity to share the field has been one of dreams. Growing up, they could never play together due to their interest in different sports and age differences.

While discussing this privilege, Matt said, “It is a super cool experience because we never played any sport together growing up besides football, but we were never on the same team. He was three years older than me, so I always watched him play, but I never got to play with him. So, it has been super cool to be able to play a collegiate sport alongside him.”

Sam echoed the same sentiment.

“Playing with Matt has been a blessing. He might not say that because I’m pretty hard on him— way harder than I am on other people — but it’s been awesome to share a passion with my brother. I will see new strategies and things I like in the off-season and want to implement, and I immediately walk into his house and talk to him about them. Overall, it has been a ton of fun, especially knowing that I already have that trust with him on the field. I can trust him to do what he needs to do.”

Together, the two have forever etched their names into USU rugby history. Throughout their time donning the USU jersey, the two have also learned priceless lessons and formed eternal relationships.

“USU rugby changed my life. I met my wife through it, with her being on the women’s team. That is definitely the biggest way it changed my life, but it also taught me a lot about how to be able to deal with overcoming hardships and just being able to keep pushing through,” Sam said.

The Aggies are expected to shine on the pitch this upcoming season, and with the Gatherum brothers leading the pack as seniors, look for them to make some noise.