By Derek Borycki
Contributing Writer
After an 0-2 start, the St. Bonaventure University men’s rugby team is looking to rebound this weekend against unranked Wheeling Jesuit University.
Junior fly-half Christian Artuso touched on how the Bonnies can bounce back from its 0-2 start.
“The best thing for our players and fans to keep in mind is that there is a reason we scheduled Kutztown (ranked 11th nationally) and Penn State (7th),” Artuso said. “They were always going to be difficult games for us. Now our best chances are to come out firing with the same enthusiasm against Wheeling Jesuit, Notre Dame College (19th) and University of Buffalo (unranked) to see if we can come away with some wins.”
The team intends to keep working with the positives and negatives to better improve for the rest of the season.
“The positive has been the addition to our big forwards,” Artuso said. “We struggled with our scrums and lineouts in the past years, so we added to our forward with two very promising freshmen leaders, Jack Wiles and Colin Sustersic, as well as moving some backline players to the forwards, Matthew Williams and Jaret Williamson. So the positive has been our forward pack really competing with the other teams and giving them a good push. Our boys have also shown a great deal of composure in the past few weeks, knowing that rarely does everything go your way.”
Eamonn Matthews is a junior scrum-half that was a high school All -American in rugby.
“The thing I’d like to improve on is being mentally switched on for a full 80 minutes,” said Matthews. “We have hung with both teams for much of the games so far, but we have little mental lapses which they have taken advantage of each of our first two games.”
With a 31-player freshmen recruiting class, the freshmen have been a big part of the team this year
“Our goal here was to throw some of these new college players in the water and see if they sink or swim,” Artuso said. Even though the scores might not show it, some of the youngsters are playing above their level and with a lot of heart.”
Matthews added onto the positive energy that comes with this freshmen squad.
“The freshmen have brought a great energy to the team this year,” Matthews said. “They come ready to practice, and they all want to play so badly which keeps upperclassmen working hard too by the continued push.”
The Brown and White have a very tough schedule this season playing in Rugby East, and the team is working hard to come away with the best possible result every week.
“A team goal for the rest of the season would be to come away with an upset,” Artuso said. “In a league this tough, we are the underdogs in most of our games. No one really expects us to come away with any wins, so a big goal is to cause an upset and shake up Rugby East once and for all.”
The Bonnies are looking forward to a good matchup this week against Wheeling Jesuit University that will draw many Bonaventure alumni for the game.
Jaret Williamson is a sophomore center who started playing rugby his sophomore year of high school.
“I’m just looking forward to our fourth game of the season,” Williamson said. “Each game we crack down on our mistakes, and find ourselves as a team.”
Matthews adds that the alumni are a staple to the rugby program.
“I’m most looking forward to the alumni being at the game,” Matthews said. “Our alumni are a huge part of the program, and any time we are able to play in front of them is a special occasion.”
This week is the second straight home game for the Brown and White, and they are hoping to get the same reception they got last week in the home opener.
“Last week the crowd was very loud for us, which is always a boost when you’re playing,” Williamson said. “I can expect not as big as a crowd as it was parents weekend but I can count on loud, prideful Bonnies cheering us on.”
The St. Bonaventure men’s rugby team will play Wheeling Jesuit University at home this Saturday at 1:30 p.m.
boryckdm17@bonaventure.edu
