For the first time in two years Skill Rugby is looking forward to the first match of a competitive regular season. 2020 was set to be the 25th anniversary for the Club but due to Covid we pushed the celebration back to this year and are set for a great season of rugby to honor all of the players that have built this club through the years.

On September 18 we will kick things off with The Exiles (D1) hosting Rocky Gorge while Troop (D3) travels to Lehigh Valley and we go from there with matches every Saturday through November 13. The Club would also like to take this opportunity to thank Kutztown University Rugby for giving us an opportunity to play some friendlies over the weekend and get prepared for the regular season.

In the first match on Saturday we got strong play from 15s newcomer Kyle Hegarty who played 7s for us the past 2 seasons and has joined the squad fulltime after graduating from Cal Poly. Hegarty, who started playing initially for Malvern Prep, is a great addition to the program. Sean Barnes was also noted to be a strong performer alongside Jeff Hall, and Sam Devine. Devine has been a 7s mainstay for us for years while he attended Kutztown after originally playing for Roman Catholic and he is another excellent addition to Skill Rugby.

In the second match Kevin Allison continued a run of very impressive play that has seen him develop into a player who has definitely forced himself into the conversation for a starting position with the Exiles. His commitment to the craft through the shutdown is obvious and he has grown tremendously. Additionally, the ageless wonder Ryan McHugh played well as did James Lesniak who is a young player that we expect big things from this season. One last player who deserves a shout out is Jack Ramirez who did a little double duty over the weekend and drew positive reviews, including from local rugby fan Alex Faison-Donohoe on the sidelines, for his defense throughout the day.

Lisa Schlager was kind enough to share some photos, feel free to take a look at the album here: https://lightroom.adobe.com/shares/34ef99ee33774b40a1d8d967d5a1a518

We will continue to provide news and match reports throughout the season so be sure to keep an eye on our website as well as our social media “Schuylkill River Rugby” or “@skillrugby” on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Lastly, be sure to check out our event page for the HazBowl Old Boys Match taking place on October 2 (https://fb.me/e/1AYgNpe4Q) and please help spread the word about that so we can get a big turnout to honor our friend!