(standing, l-r) Richardson, Wakimoto, Salomon, Nash, Brody, Roselin (c). (kneeling) Magee, Siano, Cruz, Buonopane, Mackay, Robles / Photo courtesy Northeast Academy
Five National Development Academies and select sides traveled to Dartmouth College during Labor Day Weekend for the inaugural Lupus Intus Women’s Elite 7s Tournament. The Northeast Academy hosted the event at Dartmouth College (Hanover, N.H.) and was rewarded with the tournament title, avenging its pool play loss to Tiger Cubs in the final.
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“From a tournament perspective, the level of competition was really high, and the players were respectful to each other,” said Ryszard Chadwick, who coached the Northeast Academy alongside John McGeachy. “It was the right atmosphere and environment, and really promising to see considering that this was the first time the Northeast Academy was hosting something like this. It bodes well for the game.”
In addition to providing another venue for elite 7s competition, the fixture allowed USA Women’s 7s coach Richie Walker and USA Rugby National Teams General Manager Alex Magleby to view players who were perhaps operating just under the USA Falcons level. There were exceptions – already identified players – in the mix, and the Northeast Academy was fortunate to have Sarah Buonopane, who was fantastic on the weekend. She helped lead a squad that mixed new and veteran players on the pitch, but Chadwick stressed that the team’s success was more than individual leadership.
“We set up new standards this year for the Northeast. We’re trying to really professionalize things and hold players accountable for training and their actions, so it’s a new concept around selections and what it means to get selected,” Chadwick said of a more focused player pool from New York and Boston. “We’re really trying to increase the culture of responsibility.”
The two city-based groups trained separately – away from their home 7s clubs – several times during the summer and were introduced to a new system, game plan, terminology. The members bought into the new plan, players focused on their roles within the plan, and let the execution speak for itself.
“Because of the new system we put in place, it was always going to be a risky move if players didn’t really buy into it,” Chadwick said. “It made the games really exciting and physical, and basically placed the ownership on players to step it up on both sides.”
But the Wolfpack’s mentality was lacking in the first two games at Dartmouth. The academy defeated Armed Forces 17-5 before losing 29-26 to Tiger Cubs – a squad consisting of American Rugby Pro Training Center, Life West and Chicago Lions players. The Northeast Academy rounded out Saturday with wins against Atavus (27-5) and Stars (43-0).
“For a lot of the players, there was disappointment after the Tiger game. They thought Tiger didn’t win the game but that the Northeast lost it,” Chadwick referenced an intercept try and lots of missed tackles. “The strength of the system was good, but individual defensive efforts were average. That allowed Tiger to score.”
The Northeast Academy conceded seven tries during Saturday’s pool play games and five went to the Tiger Cubs, so the Saturday-night film session focused solely on that loss.
“There were key things we were doing wrong and we needed to adapt our defensive shape,” Chadwick said. “In attack, we knew what we needed to do and executed well. The big difference between [our two] games was that our mentality was very much at its peak in the final.”
Sunday’s playoffs began with a semifinal play-in that Armed Forces won 15-0 over Stars. The reward was a final-four match against top-ranked Tiger Cubs, which advanced to the final with a 22-5 victory over the military side. The Northeast Academy beat Atavus 17-10 in the semifinals to advance to the title bout.
Despite Sunday’s rain, the play remained at a premium and ballhandling didn’t suffer too much. The Northeast Academy was eager to see Tiger Cubs once again and focused its energies on a pressure defense. On attack, the Wolfpack did well to hold onto the ball, played patiently, and got two breaks outside for Emily Magee to finish for tries. The Northeast won 19-7.
Nikki Richardson was also influential in the final. She hadn’t played in the semifinal but her kicking abilities, especially in the restarts, were particularly attractive in the wet weather. Captain Lisa Roselin and Tahlia Brody earned praised from the coach, but it was Buonopane, Magee and Shamira Robles whom Chadwick named as tournament standouts. Robles, who plays her college ball at American International College in the varsity league, is also a graduate of Play Rugby Academy, where Chadwick first coached the New York native.
It was a nice victory for the Northeast and just as beneficial for Walker, who is looking for the next crop of 7s Eagles.
“Richie is really good about trusting other coaches. He watched all of the games Saturday, watched film, and then started reaching out to coaches for recommendations,” Chadwick said. “Sometimes a player has a bad tournament or doesn’t show up, but Richie trusts the coaches when they say he should give a player a look.”
The Northeast Academy was pleased with the event, the Big Green facilities and the aid of Dartmouth volunteers. The hope is for more teams next year in addition to more competitive opportunities to put players in front of national selectors.
LUPUS INTUS 7s
Final: Northeast 19-7 Tiger Cubs
3rd: Atavus 12-5 Armed Forces
4th: Stars 24-14 Armed Forces
SF: #1 Tiger Cubs 22-5 #4 Armed Forces
SF: #2 Northeast 17-10 #3 Atavus
SF Play-in: Armed Forces 15-0 Stars
POOL PLAY
Tiger Cubs 36-0 Stars
Tiger Cubs 29-26 Northeast
Tiger Cubs 41-5 Armed Forces
Tiger Cubs 26-14 Atavus
Northeast 17-5 Armed Forces
Northeast 29-5 Atavus
Northeast 43-0 Stars
Atavus 26-12 Armed Forces
Atavus 45-5 Stars
Armed Forces 17-0 Stars