In its first decade, Rye High School’s boys varsity rugby program has grown in size and popularity – landing two state championships and, just last year, its first invite to the National High School Rugby Championships.
Coach James O’Hara’s team has continually found success since its inception in 2014, and this year it is scheduled to play many high-profile programs in the Northeast. Most of the team’s key talent will be returning from last year, which arguably was the program’s most successful season yet.
“There’s a lot of momentum and buzz heading into the year,” O’Hara said as the team prepared to play its first match of the season earlier this month in Washington, D.C., against Georgetown Preparatory School. “I truly believe we are a top 10 team. We played five of the top 10 teams last year – beat one and tied another…. Talent-wise, we can compete with anyone.”
Ten of last year’s 15 starters – many of whom doubled as members of the school’s 2023 state championship football team – are back this season. Archer Fenton, Owen Saya, Patrick McGuire, Jack Acciavatti, and Owen Welburn are just a few of the players who start for both the rugby and football squads.
“Saya, Fenton and McGuire all played the whole year as sophomores, and Acciavatti and Welburn are captains along with Sjef Smits,” O’Hara said. “We have some of the most balanced roster numbers in the state.” Despite missing a few of those veterans on March 9, the team beat nationally ranked No. 17 Georgetown Prep 13-0 in a matchup that featured wind, rain, lightning — and solid Garnets defense. It was just the first of many scheduled matchups against some of the nation’s best high school rugby programs, including Greenwich (Connecticut) and Xavier (in Manhattan), and one of Canada’s premier teams – Shawnigan Lake of Vancouver, British Columbia.
“This program is very different compared to other sports. We give a lot of ownership to the players,” O’Hara said. “We roll the ball out there, and you don’t see your players until half. We see our players rise to higher expecta- tions in terms of leadership and the respect that’s required on the field.”
After the win in D.C., Rye dominated Ridgefield 42-7 in their home opener on March 15. Prior to that second win of the season, the Garnets had already jumped from 39th to 21st in Goff Rugby Report’s nationwide rank- ing of high school rugby clubs; this week, they could join Xavier and two Connecticut teams – Fairfield Prep and Greenwich High – as the only Northeastern U.S. teams in the Top 20.