Toughest Conference? Rugby East Kicks Off
Toughest Conference? Rugby East Kicks Off
The big and imposing Rugby East opens up season this weekend and we get to see the beginning of what could be the best conference in collegiate rugby.
Could be? Well, yes. The expansion of the California Conference puts that competition in contention, but the issue with the California is that one team usually dominates—so even if the 2nd through 7th is competitive, they are all chasing #1. Rugby East is a conference where anyone could win, and, in fact, while Army has won the most conference championships, it has usually been a close-run thing.
Of course, this year, West Point is the defending national champion team, and they return with the reigning Rudy Scholz Award-winner. Larry Williams also takes on the role as team captain. As a varsity program, West Point has been working on its recruiting, and 13 freshmen come in for the Black Knights, including Staples standout and USA age-grader George Engels and Vienna co-captain and USA age-grader Dylan Liskey. It's a pretty young Army side in some ways but they have senior leadership. Army opens against Kutztown on Friday at West Point. For Kutztown this will be a year of adjustment with Thorne O'Connell, Kekoa Kauwe, and Aaron Gray gone. But this could be a real coming out season for the powerful Mate Kvirikashvili.
Penn State is at Queens, with Queens coming off a bit of a worrying game against Wheeling. The Royals won, but it was a close-run thing. Penn State graduated some really good players but have some talent coming up. Head Coach Justin Hundley is optimistic about his team and he has a right to be.
Southern Virginia is a big question-mark and earlier this year Head Coach David Smyth said SVU will be a work in progress. However, they should be physically strong and good on contact. Certainly Navy Head Coach Gavin Hickie isn't taking them lightly.
"Every game is going to be really tough," Hickie told GRR. Navy is in their first season as a varsity program and Hickie said the transition has gone well. They've brought in a couple of handy freshmen, with Roanin Krieger (Jesuit Sacramento) having already started at fullback. Nacy has also brought in James Willocks (who succeeded Hickie at Dartmouth and moved on to coach Old Glory DC). That's a massive addition for the program and, as Hickie said, "his addition ios going to push us forward."
And Virginia Tech, which will remain in NCR's D1AA-Club postseason (the rest opt for a higher tier) will be at Mount St. Mary's. MSM is a younger side coming into their own now. Virginia Tech was NCR's D1AA champion in 2021 and still have plenty of talent. And a fast improving Notre Dame College, with a new Head Coach, takes on St. Bonaventure, who won NCR's D1 postseason last year. Bonnies has most of the team that won that title and they have had a taste of the hardware. They will be a tough out.
Mary Washington was slated to play at Wheeling but that game has been canceled. They did beat the Welsh Army Engineers August 27 and now will take on Radford as a warmup before conference play starts.
Rugby East games this weekend:
| 9/9 | Kutztown | at | Army | Rugby East |
| 9/10 | Notre Dame College | at | St. Bonaventure | Rugby East |
| 9/10 | Penn State | at | Queens | Rugby East |
| 9/10 | Southern Virginia | at | Navy | Rugby East |
| 9/10 | Virginia Tech | at | Mount St. Mary's | Rugby East |
