Is it time to get excited about St. Bonaventure? 

Was this past weekend's 32-12 defeat of Notre Dame College enough for us to call SBU a contender in the Rugby East?

Head Coach Tui Osborne isn't quite sure we should go that far, but he's happy.

"The boys have started well," Osborne told Goff Rugby Report. "They did the work over the offseason, and they took some ownership of that. They learned a lot last year, especially the younger players, and they understood what it takes. So they did the work and they came onto campus in shape and prepared."

What that meant was that Osborne spent a lot less time working on getting players into game shape, and a lot more time working on pattern of play and how they would approach using the tools they have.

"It puts you ahead," he said.

(Photos by Chris Sustersic)

It's apparent. SBU is more polished, but it's a polishing that required a few dings and dents too. The players wouldn't have known what was expected if they hadn't played against the likes of Penn State, Army, and the rest of the Rugby East last year. They have seen players mature. Alex Chura was a mature and intelligent player in high school. As a sophomore he is electric out of the fullback position. 

At No. 8, captain Jack Wiles is a perfect leader.

"He just gets the job done," said Osborne. "He makes a play and it's next job, next job, next job."

Next up? "What we need to work on now are those little things," said Osborne. "There are little mistakes or errors we make that the best teams will punish. We're tired of losing close games. We need to clean those up."

Bonnies gets a week off this weekend, and it's a good thing, because after that it's a buzzsaw of Penn State, University of Notre Dame, Army, and Kutztown to ring in October.

Are they ready? They better be.