The St. Thomas University Tommies men's rugby team is adding five new faces to its roster.
Nicholas Vail, Deryk Hill, and D'Artagnan Mallet of Oromocto, NB, will join the Green and Gold along with Justyn Roberts of Fredericton, NB, and Cameron Pollard of Murray Harbour, PEI.
Vail, Hill, and Mallet were all members of the Oromocto High School rugby team, which was one of the best squads in the province this year.
"Although they narrowly lost in their cross-over playoff match, there was no doubt OHS was one of the most powerful schools in the province," Tommies head coach Curtis Lauzon said. "The core of that team has played together on several different teams over the last four years."
The Oromocto trio has competed with the New Brunswick Spruce under-16 and under-18 teams, as well as the Loyalist Senior men's team. Now, they're bringing their experience and knowledge of the game to the Tommies lineup.
"Nicholas is a natural scrum half and has the potential to fill the gap that star player Johnny Cullen left two years ago," Lauzon said. "D'Artagnan is an excellent leader with a great rugby IQ, and Deryk is a well-rounded player that you will see all over the field."
Joining the group of local recruits is Roberts, who has played the last three seasons with the Loyalist Senior men's team.
"Justyn is poised to be an excellent front row option for STU," Lauzon said. "If he continues to train diligently he has potential to make an immediate impact on the team."
Pollard is the only out-of-province addition to the Tommies team, but he comes highly touted. The Montague Regional High School product was named a PEI School Athletic Association All-Star and played three seasons with the PEI under-18 team.
"Similar to the trend of the other recruits, Cameron is a work horse with a lot of potential," Lauzon said.
The Tommies are coming off another successful season, having qualified for the New Brunswick Rugby final for the second consecutive year.
This will be Lauzon's first season at the helm of the program as he takes over for Jon Wilson, who led the Tommies squad for the past four years.