The St. Joe’s men’s rugby team played and finished sixth in the 2019 Las Vegas Invitational over the weekend, the largest amateur rugby tournament in North America hosted from Feb. 28 to March 3.
The Hawks set out with two rosters, the first side roster and the second side roster. The first roster was the “elite side,” one that had the best shot at a championship run. The second roster was composed of mostly seniors with the goal of experiencing another rugby trip before leaving St. Joe’s.
The second side roster lost the majority of their games, only beating Weber State University 24-22 in their Bowl Consolation match.
The first side roster was selected as the eighth seed within the top eight teams. However, on March 1, they lost 17-12 in the Cup Quarterfinals to Dartmouth University, a team that went on to win the championship game.
St. Joe’s then beat the Air Force Academy 29-14 in the Cup Consolation, a game that secured the Hawks their sixth place finish for the tournament. However, it was what the team can take from the week and apply later in the season that they valued most.
“Getting in physically better shape, getting beat around on the field, the doing it over again is one of the hardest things about the game,” Fifth year senior Captain and full back Adram Keshgegian said. “The repetition that we withstood in Las vegas is really going to help us.”
The backdrop of the Las Vegas Invitational was an even larger rugby event, the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, which is an annual series of international rugby sevens. All of the St. Joe’s players that were in Las Vegas attended the series for one day to witness the professional games.
Keshgegian said that by watching those players compete at such high speeds, the Hawks mentality can see that there is no limit to how good they can be in the future.
“We’re not the main event [in Las Vegas] but we’re part of it,” Keshgegian said. “People come to see our games, and we get to see the best in the world. Being around that environment is an experience that motivates us as a team.”
Junior Captain and scrumhalf Noah Niumataiwalu said witnessing different clubs and divisions of men and women is an incredible experience for the team to carry forward.
“Everything is one step quicker, the speed that they are able to produce is unreal to me,” Niumataiwalu said. “You can see the fruits of their labor show by the performance they’re able to put on for so many people. It shows us what we need to do to get to that level.”
Through film, senior captain and lock George Harris said the Hawks have been able to learn from international play. However, witnessing it firsthand was an even more powerful learning experience for the team.
“It gave us a sense of unity within all of USA rugby from top to bottom,” Harris said. “We watch a lot of film from the international teams, in particular the USA team. We use a lot of their same attack patterns. We can really take away strategic choices that they make on the field.”
In terms of their own play, the Hawks weren’t able to accomplish their goal of winning the championship, according to Keshgegian. However, he said they were able to use this time as an opportunity to sharpen their chemistry and overall play.
“It’s good to get our season started, get all the kinks out [and] start building chemistry,” Keshgegian said. “We’re getting our bodies equipped to play five games in a two-day span.”
Niumataiwalu said despite the team not accomplishing their overall goal for the invitational, their confidence is at an all time high.
“There’s depth that we haven’t had in the past couple years so it gives us more of a full team,” Niumataiwalu said. “We know we can hang around with any team we go up against.”
The Hawks still need to work on aspects of their game including their new defensive structure according to Keshgegian.
“We have one man covering the ball on attack in the middle of the field and everyone else mans up,” Keshgegian said. “It’s harder to do, it takes more running and thought, but its the best possible defense we can use.”
Overall, Niumataiwalu said their trip to Las Vegas allowed the team to grow and learn before heading into the regular season.
“We’ll get to a level where we can go out to Santa Clara for the Jesuit Sevens, win that event dominantly and crack the top eight this season and go for a big run,” Niumataiwalu said. “There’s great chemistry and we love being around each other, which is first and foremost what’s important.”
