Their National Collegiate Rugby playoff berth is secure, but if St. Bonaventure defeats Queens University in the Atlantic Rugby Conference (ARC) title game Friday night, its climb to reach another national title game won’t be as steep.

By virtue of their last-minute, 32-29 win Sept. 20 over the Royals (3-1-1 league), the Bonnies (4-0-1 league) are the top seed in the league, assuring them a bid to the 16-team NCR national championship tourney.

Beating Queens again would earn SBU a bye into the quarterfinals Nov. 22. All four league champions in NCR get a pass to the quarterfinals. The semifinals and finals will be held in December.

A loss Friday would relegate the Bonnies to a round of 16 NCR play-in home game Nov. 16 and give Queens the bye to the quarterfinals. SBU is ranked No. 1 and Queens No. 3 in the latest NCR Division I poll.

The match, being played at Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., kicks off at 7 p.m. and will be streamed on the NCR YouTube page.

“Queens won’t be easy,” said Coach Danny Neighbour. “Both of us have been to the (national) finals and lost so it will be a big game with a lot on the line. We’d love to get the bye and underline the fact that we are the team to beat.”

In their first year in the newly formed ARC, the Bonnies survived a number of close calls but never lost.

“Going unbeaten in conference play is not easy to do,” Neighbour said. “We’ve had some close calls with the one tie, so I think that’s really prepared us well for these games to come.”

Neighbour said his banged-up club is on the mend and “we’re starting to see some guys returning” to the pitch.

“The lads are excited about the challenge and confident in our ability to compete with anyone. Now it’s about sharpening our claws for the final push to get back to another final,” he said.

The Bonnies defeated Penn State to win the 15s national title in 2021 and lost to Notre Dame College in the 2023 national title game. Queens lost the national title game in 2024.

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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 167 regional universities in the North, St. Bonaventure was ranked #8 for value and #19 overall by U.S. News and World Report (2025).