St. Thomas Tommies men’s rugby head coach, Matt Coffey, had his first season as head coach interrupted by the pandemic, but he has the 2021-22 Tommies ready for his first action as head coach.
“The pandemic has hit our program hard from a retention and recruitment standpoint,” said Coffey. “If you were a first-year student in 2020 it was very difficult to stay engaged with your studies and extracurricular activities in a virtual and isolated environment. That said, we had a fantastic training camp with some new athletes coming out of the woodwork, so we’re looking to use that momentum as we settle into the season.”
Chris Denhollander (Oromocto, NB) and Hudson Barnaby (Listuguj, QC) are two of the fresh faces that Coffey is looking forward to seeing don the Tommies Green and Gold for the first time.
"Hudson is a goal oriented young man who knows what he wants from an academic standpoint, as well as the from game of rugby,” added Coffey. “His on-field resume speaks for itself, that said, we are really interested in how he will fit into, and build upon, our team culture. Chris is a durable and physical presence with a lot of upside to boot. We’re happy to have him in our program and he’ll make an immediate impact.”
When asked about some of his returning players Coffey was quick to mention three: Grayson MacPherson (Charlottetown, PE), Oliver Larson (Saint John, NB), and Nigel Cornelius (Cambridge, NS).
“Grayson has improved tenfold at his position over the past couple years. Oliver is a guy who can make something happen out of nothing and will be leading the charge for us, while Nigel is always a positive voice for our team.”
The Tommies will open their season on Sunday, September 19th at the Grant-Harvey Turf Field in the back end of our rugby “Battle of the Hill”, with a start time of 4:00pm against UNB.