Glendale Raptors Success Narrowed Down To 4 'C's

By Romi Bean

GLENDALE, Colo. (CBS4)- The Glendale Raptors have taken Major League Rugby by storm in the league's inaugural season. The Raptors torched the rest of the league, nearly going undefeated and earning themselves the top seed in the playoffs. The secret to the Raptors success can be narrowed down to four "C"s:

CONFIDENCE -- CHEMISTRY -- CULTURE -- COACH

#1 CONFIDENCE

"We always knew it was going to be good. We have a great group of guys and a great set of coaches. We always knew there'd be success, it was just a matter of how hard and how well we do things. It's come off pretty well and we're still not finished, we still have stuff to do," said Luke White, Prop for the Glendale Raptors.

#2 CHEMISTRY

"The key to our success is the group of guys we have together. A few of us have been together for a few years; a lot of us live together. Ninety percent 90% of the time we're talking about rugby, so we learn and grow even when we're not training or not with coaches. We're always developing our game." White said.

"It's a great bunch of lads. They're great on the field, off the field, top class men to be honest." Coach David Williams says of his players.

#3 CULTURE

"How we train translates directly to how we play on the weekend. The lads are really intense with how they practice… we keep our standards high. If someone comes here and they don't, I usually tell them 'hey this isn't the club for you'." Williams said.

#4 COACH

"Davie is a huge factor in our season. He's a great coach, gets along with everybody really well. It's not just the player, it's the coaches, Teddy and Davie... they don't over work us, but when we are working, we're working hard," White said.

Heading into the playoffs the Glendale Raptors know they are the team to beat - and they can't wait...

"It's great… but to be honest we haven't done anything yet... yeah, it's great we finished top of the table, but with the playoffs that means nothing. And that's the whole thing, it only shows if we win... can't look past it... the old cliché of 'one game at a time' - that's what we're looking at," Coach Williams said.

Romi Bean is a sports anchor and reporter at CBS4. Connect with Romi on Twitter @Romi_Bean.