Liberty Eagles, coached by Ed Tubridy, win the first NCR tens
Five Maddogs played as two Liberty Conference sides met in the final in New Orleans.
Over Memorial Day weekend, National Collegiate Rugby hosted the College Rugby Championships in New Orleans. With many programs unable to practice because of the pandemic, the NCR also held a select-side tens tournament for eight teams representing conferences from across the country. The Liberty Conference sent two, the Liberty Eagles and Liberty Rams. Five Maddogs played, and head coach Ed Tubridy was chosen to coach the Eagles.
Both teams had some growing pains on day one, learning to play alongside former opponents from Boston College, Fairfield, AIC, Tufts and UConn, and each finished 2–1 to take the second seed in its bracket. On day two both won their quarter-finals. The Eagles beat the Northwest Cascade decisively to reach the final, avenging the Rams’ only loss, and the Rams returned the favor with a hard-fought win over the NorCal Pelicans.
The final was all Liberty Conference. Neither team took it easy, with hard hits and bruising runs to the final whistle, and the Liberty Eagles, coached by Ed Tubridy, were crowned champions of the inaugural conference tens.
— Alex Parciak ’22
A massive thank you to alumni Eric Graham and George Johnson for helping with travel costs to get our Maddogs to New Orleans.