PHOTO: GOBONNIES.COM
BY COLBY GAINES, STAFF WRITER
Coming off a 27-15 semi-finals statement win over Kutztown, the Bonnies are locked and loaded for this weekend’s National Collegiate Rugby Division I Tournament championship game against the second-seeded Penn State.
“It was huge,” coach Tui Osborne exclaimed, moments after the win in a university press release. “The guys were crying. Alex Chura was a freshman and starting for us three years ago, and to see the emotion on his face when we won was amazing. [Chura’s] speech to the team after was, ‘This is it guys. We’re on the up and let’s keep moving.’”
Last year, this Bonnies rugby squad performed in an unorthodox environment; practicing only 1-2 times a week, with an occasional COVID-19 trace shutting down their season for weeks at a time. The season was inevitably terminated due to the global pandemic.
This year, they’re one game away from a national title.
“I feel like much of the success this season is due to the balance of young talent and experience we always have on the field,” says prop Juan Pen. “We are lucky enough to have guys who have gotten full seasons in before the pandemic and understand what it takes to be successful in Division I rugby. When you mix this with a talented and energetic group of underclassmen, and one of the best coaching staffs in the nation, it makes sense that we had such a great season. The job’s not done, but we have a lot to be proud of.”
This resilient St. Bonaventure squad, led by coach Tui Osborne, have proved to be a daunting force this season, going 9-2 thus far and averaging almost 34 points per game, as well as winning by a differential of 22 points per game.
“I’m feeling pretty confident going into this game,” admitted sophomore Ethan Doumbe. “We have great coaches and a bunch of hard working guys, which is what gave us our big win over Kutztown last weekend. We have great tacklers on our team which is going to be huge this weekend. Shutting down Penn State’s offense is going to give us many opportunities to put up points and win.”
Having started the playoffs with the 39-7 win against the University of Mary Washington, and then last weekend’s 27-15 win against Kutztown, they will now travel to Houston to take on the Nittany Lions—who they previously defeated 19-15 in October.
“It’s easy to have extra confidence after you have beaten a team once before, but we understand that they have the skill and experience to beat us on the day,” Pen added. “We have spoken a lot this season about peaking at the right time, and we feel like we are right on the verge of playing our best rugby of the season.”
With St. Bonaventure on a five-game winning streak and playing the best rugby they have all season, the pressure is on. The St. Bonaventure rugby team will kick off against Penn State at 7 p.m. EST on Saturday, December 11 from Aveva Stadium in Houston, Texas.
gainesca21@bonavenure.edu
