Rugby tournament win sets tone for spring season

Success becoming an expectation for men’s rugby team as season kicks off

After the fall 15-on-15 season ended, the St. Bonaventure men’s rugby team finished the season ranked No. 12 in Division I-A.
As the team started its seven-on-seven spring season this weekend, momentum continued for a program that is seemingly on the rise.
The Bonnies opened up its spring season at the Heart of America Classic in Kansas City, Missouri, winning three of four games.
On Sunday, the Bonnies defeated Lindenwood Belleville 17-14, winning the tournament, taking home a trophy and qualifying for The 2019 Penn Mutual CRC.
The Penn Mutual CRC, held in Philadelphia, showcases the best teams D1-A rugby has to offer. The tournament starts on May 31 and ends on June 2, and will be broadcasted live on the networks of ESPN, bringing national attention to the Bonnies’ program.
North Westall, a junior hooker, said that the recent of success that the men’s rugby program has been in the works for a while. Westall said that the program has changed its ways since he arrived a few years ago.
“We really struggled when I came in a few years ago,” said Westall. “This season has been so rewarding for our program. We’re achieving things that we’ve been aiming for, for years. It’s just the beginning of our spring season, but already being qualified for the CRCs is huge for us.”
Alex Chura, a freshman fullback, said that although he hasn’t been here as long, he feels grateful to see his older teammates achieve a goal of theirs.
“As a freshman, I haven’t been around as long,” said Chura. “To be able to come into the program and help out the older guys, who haven’t seen as much success, is really amazing.”
Senior Eamonn Matthews said the success the program has had this season and this past weekend is a testament to how hard the team has been working. Matthews spoke about the changes that the program has made since his freshman year. Matthews, who is admittedly excited about qualifying for the CRCs, said that the team has only broken through one glass ceiling.
“This is a testament to the level of skill and character of the guys our coach has been bringing in the last couple of years,” said Matthews. “This is exciting to see. But now that we have broken through one glass ceiling, we’re gearing up to break through another. We have another objective to reach.”
At the end of the fall season, the Bonnies men’s rugby team went out with a bang, defeating Iona – a huge win for the program. After this weekend’s success, Matthews said that momentum is now turning into expectation.
“For us, momentum is starting to evolve into a level of expectation,” said Matthews, speaking passionately. “We’re coming to these tournaments, we are confident. We have learned how to work together through struggles. We have the perseverance to bounce back from mistakes, as we did this weekend.”
Matthews said, “It’s a momentum of trust in each other and expectation for ourselves as a team.”
While the Bonnies have found a level of consistent success, Westall said that the team still carries a chip on its shoulder, having a “we’ll prove we belong” mentality every game.
“We always have a chip on our shoulders because we’re a small school,” said Westall. “Wherever we go and no matter what we’ve done in the past, we’re going to have to prove ourselves all over again.”
While the team as a whole performed well in Kansas City, Matthews and Westall gave high praise to the teams underclassmen. Among the team’s leading scorers, underclassmen lead the way.
“The young guys were impressive,” said Matthews. “Freshmen and sophomores lead the way in points scored. I was very proud of them. They stepped up in big moments.”
Westall said, “One of our sophomores, Chris Starkweather, almost scored a hat-trick in one of the games this weekend. He’s not normally a tri-scorer, but he turned it on this weekend.”
As the team looks forward to the rest of the spring season and a trip to their biggest tournament of the year in Philadelphia, Matthews said that improvements need to be made.
“The biggest thing we need to work on is our cardiovascular fitness,” said Matthews. “We hit the marks in practice and get the data that we need to collect, but that doesn’t always translate perfectly to game play.”
“We need to focus on game fitness. It’s not just sprinting for five minutes,” he said. “It’s sprint, hit the deck, tackle somebody, take a 12-second rest and start again. Just more real-world situational stuff to improve on.”
While the ultimate objective for the Bonnies’ spring season lies at the CRCs starting May 31 at Talen Energy Stadium, the next objective is what’s ahead. Getting better in the moment.
The next test for the Bonnies varsity Division I-A squad is the Battle of The Border Sevens, in Youngstown, New York, on April 13.