Update from the team: 19th in the country

It’s hard to believe that this past weekend would have been the USA Sevens National Championship. It’s easy to dwell on what could have been for spring 2020, but we must not forget what brought the Dogs to the level we’ve all come to expect. A Nationals bid would have been the perfect finish to a stellar year, with an undefeated fifteens season and a fantastic showing at the Los Angeles Invitational.

No national tournament didn’t stop the Maddogs getting national recognition. In the final rankings the team cracked the top 25 of D1A once again, finishing 19th in the country. Three of our rookies, Coleman Jackson, Sam Sagherian and Nick Hudson, were named among the best freshmen in the country, and graduating captain Darren Chan was rated a top-five scrum half prospect for the Major League Rugby draft.

A massive thank you to the alumni who rallied around us once again, funding our new jerseys by sponsoring them in the name of their Maddog eras. And thank you to our seniors, who made this team and family what it is today. Congratulations to Santi Ballesteros, Shawn Bleichert, Niall Carlson, Darren Chan, Mike Eiden, Will Keenan, David de Luzuriaga, Nick Robinson, Alex Sadler, Anthony Salvatore and Alex Tiarks.

College rugby shifted dramatically this spring with the reorganization of USA Rugby. Northeastern has joined the rest of the Liberty Conference in the newly formed National Collegiate Rugby (NCR), with the chance to compete for a fall Division 1 championship and to have games broadcast on ESPN+.

— Jack Hale, NURFC president