Aug 27, 2026
For most teams, in any sport, the climb is the motivation.
Every season begins with the same distant goal: reach the mountaintop, win the last game and experience the rare satisfaction of being crowned a national champion.
But what happens when you’ve already reached the summit — and made the climb look almost easy?
That’s the challenge facing St. Bonaventure men’s rugby coach Danny Neighbour as the Bonnies prepare to defend their National Collegiate Rugby Division I championship after one of the most dominant postseason runs in NCR history.
St. Bonaventure steamrolled through four national playoff opponents last fall, beating Southern Nazarene, 44-17; defending national champion Brown, 51-7; Walsh, 33-8; and Queens University, 55-19, in the championship game in Houston. From halftime of the Atlantic Rugby Conference championship game through the national final, the Bonnies outscored opponents 202-51.
Neighbour believes the answer to keeping his team motivated lies partly with the players who watched that championship run from just outside the spotlight.
“I think you can hopefully use it as fuel,” Neighbour said.
The Bonnies had so much depth last season that choosing the 23 players to take to Houston was difficult. Some players left behind had an unspoken message for their coach when the team returned home.
“We brought the trophy home, and some of the guys didn’t even want to touch it because they were like, ‘I’m gonna touch it when I get to lift it,’” Neighbour said. “That really said a lot to me about where the guys’ mindset was who weren’t in that squad.”
That internal competition could be critical as the Bonnies pursue consecutive titles and their third in six years; they defeated Penn State for the NCR crown in 2021.
St. Bonaventure graduated 13 players, including five starters from the championship match, meaning 10 of the 15 who started against Queens return. And behind them is a group that spent last season pushing the starters in training and waiting for an opportunity.
“It’s next guy up,” Neighbour said. “Those guys that either got left behind or were on the bench now are getting their shot at it to make their mark.”
The newcomers are pushing, too. Neighbour said the freshman class has impressed.
The club’s depth could be tested immediately. The Bonnies open their nonconference schedule Saturday morning at traditional national power Navy before hosting Siena and Mary Washington Sept. 5 in a pair of 40-minute matches.
Marian visits on Rugby Alumni Weekend (Sept. 12) before St. Bonaventure opens Atlantic Rugby Union league play Sept. 19 at Belmont Abbey. The full schedule is available here.
The Bonnies begin the season with uncertainty surrounding standout Noah Edwards, a captain and one of the nation’s best kickers who suffered a foot injury while playing with the All-Americans. Neighbour said Edwards was in a boot as a precaution and could miss a week or two, but he remains confident in the team’s other kicking options.
Ultimately, however, Neighbour knows the greatest threat to a repeat championship might not come from another team. It might come from allowing last season’s success to become this season’s comfort.
“The trick now is to not get complacent and keep driving our standards, driving our skills and all the little things off the pitch that matter to keep us where we’re at now,” he said.
The Bonnies know what the mountaintop looks like now. They also know everyone will be trying to knock them off it.
Neighbour believes they have the talent to stay there — provided they retain the mentality that got them there.
“As long as we can stay true to our standards, be humble and stay hungry,” he said, “then there’s no reason why we can’t get back there.”
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About the University: The nation’s first Franciscan university, St. Bonaventure is a community committed to transforming the lives of its students inside and outside the classroom, inspiring in them a commitment to academic excellence and lifelong civic engagement. Out of 164 regional universities in the North, St. Bonaventure was ranked in the Top 25 overall and for value by U.S. News and World Report (2026).
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