NPR Player of the Month: Luciana Viera

Warsaw Area High School of Indiana won the Rugby Michigan Girls’ High School 15s Championship, and did so with a thrilling 14-12 win against Traverse City Alliance. At the middle of it all was Next Phase Rugby Player of the Month Luciana Viera, the senior co-captain who not only directed from scrumhalf but also scored the tying try and kicked the winning conversion.

“The great thing about her is she really doesn’t know how good she is,” Warsaw head coach Trevor Cracknell said of Viera. “When I told her that [The Rugby Breakdown] wanted to talk to her, she was like, ‘Why would they want to talk to me?’ That’s how she is, just a humble kid. But she’s so consistently good, week in, week out, and deserves the recognition.”

Viera had some familiarity with rugby as she entered middle school and in 8th grade attended a Warsaw practice alongside a good friend with whom she still plays beside today. It was friendships like these and the ones that would form on and near the pitch that attracted Viera to rugby. She also enjoyed the team-sport ecosystem, where the group is all working together in pursuit of the same goal.

“I knew of the sport because my brother played during his high school years,” Viera explained, “but I wasn’t aware back then how much it would’ve changed my life.”

After acclimating as an 8th grader, the freshman earned a starting role at wing during Warsaw’s 2024 state championship season. The 5’1″ first-year experienced the pressurized environment that is playoff rugby and the demands of shut-down defense on the edge, and she was better for it.

Sophomore year, Warsaw traveled to nearby Cottage Grove, Wis., to compete in the 2025 Girls’ High School 7s National Tournament. The Tigers showed well in Division I and the group as a whole benefitted from the perspective that only nationals can provide.

The uptick continued into the 2025-26 school year with three important changes. Viera was named junior captain alongside Ruby Orozco. She was named varsity scrumhalf, a position that would require lots of vocal leadership and rugby IQ. And she joined the state all-star program Indy Speed for more and different exposure in the sport.

“Scrumhalves need to be that fiery little dog and that’s what she is,” Cracknell said of Viera’s transition to the nine position. “She makes so many tackles during a game. She sits behind the rucks, even on defense, and if someone breaks through she’s making that tackle. Believe it or not, she got yellow-carded a couple times for dump tackles just because it’s the only way she can get those big girls down.

“And if you give her a break, she’s gone, because she’s quick,” the coach switched to the attack. “She’s everywhere all over that field.”

“I personally do enjoy scrumhalf,” Viera adapted to the decision-maker role. “I fell more in love with this position the more I would I play it, game after game. I enjoy being able to interact with not just only the backs in a game, but the forwards. As a scrumhalf I learned more about not only my position, but everyone else’s. I became aware of the field more during games, which helped me move the ball in a better and smart way.”

While that game understanding developed, Viera also took cues from her seniors in terms of shaping her own leadership style.

“My last year senior captain, Sophia Jimenez, had a huge impact on what kind of leader I wanted to be because she would remind me that a captain isn’t someone who lets you fail or commit a mistake many times,” Viera explained. “She reminded me that a captain is a leader who has passion for their team and its success. That is how I want to lead my team.”

“She’ll be vocal if she needs to – ‘Girls, get over the ball! – but that came later,” Cracknell said of Viera’s trajectory. “When she joined Indy Speed, she became more vocal in that way. She’s a big leader on the team.”

The spring 2026 season was an interesting one, in that Warsaw needed time to put the right personnel in the right positions before really peaking. Viera had her home at nine, as teammates moved around her, but it all came together at the right moment. The Tigers won the 2026 Rugby Indiana 15s Championship 23-17. Viera added a penalty kick to the scoreline and ended the season as the team’s leading point scorer on tries and kicks – an honor that is shared with her dad, Mike, the team’s kicking coach.

“I knew then and there that I had to help out my team with lots of leadership and guidance, knowing half my team was leaving, and that we would struggle with rebuilding not only a team, but a family,” Viera explained the championship’s impact on her senior captainship.

This is where Warsaw’s participation in Rugby Michigan’s fall 15s season has been very beneficial. Indiana does host its own fall 7s series (related: Carmel Wins 2026 Indiana 7s), but the Tigers do not participate due to its prioritization of 15s. Warsaw has good numbers – which in 7s would mean multiple sides – and also wants to give meaningful minutes and development to its tight five. The single-school program has been competing in Michigan for years, and it’s been a nice incubator for Indiana’s championship 15s season in the fall.

“This year’s team is more challenging,” Viera explained. “Although we still have some of the same players as last year, a lot of new ones came in – which is where challenges come in. They all have the desire to play, but learning tends to be difficult. As seniors we learn to have patience with them, as they are still learning skills and knowledge of the game.”

Unfortunately the schedule didn’t really provide this fall. Teams either canceled their travel to Warsaw, showed up with single-digit numbers or forfeited altogether. Ahead of the state playoffs, the varsity side had played just one game, while the JV side got three matches. Varsity played Grand Haven to a 31-31 tie in the regular season.

“It has been difficult for the varsity side to get ahead of the Michigan final, as we have had barely any chance to really play the game,” Viera lamented. “I think we have another championship squad in the making. We aren’t to our best yet, but we soon will be and I know it. We are a work in progress.”

Rugby Michigan tested out a double-elimination bracket for the post-season this year, but it didn’t necessarily provide more games for Warsaw. In the first round on Oct. 10-11, the Tigers beat Grand Haven 47-10, and Viera contributed 17 points on a try and six conversions. Meanwhile, St. Joseph beat Grandville 19-12 and advanced to the next round the following day against top-ranked Traverse City Alliance, which had a bye through the first round. St. Joe prevailed 17-15.

But the doubleheader weekend took a toll on St. Joe and it had to forfeit its Oct. 18 playoff against Warsaw. Traverse City spent that weekend beating Grandville 57-12 in the elimination bracket, and then on Oct. 25 defeated St. Joe 24-17 for the final’s berth against Warsaw.

Sunday’s title bout was a back-and-forth affair, one that Traverse City led 12-7 with little time left on the clock. Viera then scored a try to tie up and then nailed the conversion for the 14-12 lead that held through full time. Warsaw, an Indiana team, won the Rugby Michigan 15s trophy and now has a lot of insight into what might work well for the spring 15s season at home.

“We have a good, strong, senior leadership group this year, which I really didn’t have last year,” Cracknell was confident about moving forward.

The head coach confessed that he will miss these seniors and Viera especially when they graduate, and he’s invested in their next steps. The staff has conversations with all of the players and aids in their college aspirations.

“We actually sat down with all of them a couple of weeks back and went through what they wanted to do and where they wanted to go,” Cracknell said. “One of the girls wants to become an attorney and wants to go to Georgetown, and my daughter happens to work there. So I put them in contact.

“So stuff like that, we try and help them, and we always talk about Next Phase Rugby and how that’s a good thing,” he added. “That’s a good site to get involved in and all that college and recruitment type of stuff.”

Viera wants to be an anesthesiologist and has been looking at IU Indianapolis, but she’s on Next Phase Rugby and certainly wants to take her game to the next level.

To learn more about Luciana Viera and fellow high schoolers nationwide looking to play rugby in college, download the Next Phase Rugby app on the Apple App Store or Google Play and search “Next Phase Rugby.” For more information, visit nextphaserugby.com or e-mail greg@nextphaserugby.com.