The Rugby New Jersey Girls select side dominated the field in the Northeast Regional Cup Tournament this past weekend in Albany, NY.

And it wasn't even remotely close. New Jersey beat Connecticut 70-0, Massachusetts 100-0, and, in the final Pennsylvania 43-0. 

"One through 23 were fantastic," said Coach Ryszard Chadwick. "Collectively we were all one."

Chadwick, Tom Feury, and Kevin Corley scouted and assessed players throughout the season, always staying in contact. That was crucial, as was their early assembly where they worked on team culture and connecting with each other. Then they addressed players' skill level, especially moving the ball wide quickly, set pieces, attacking philosophy, and defensive philosophy.

Likewise, the competition weekend was broken down into jobs.

"Day one - Professionalism," he said. "Players were giving the task as a team to come up with answers for the following questions - What does this mean? What does it look like? What does it feel like? What does it smell like? What does it sound like? What does it taste like?  

Focused on professionalism, the New Jersey girls were untouchable.

"Now we have our baseline of professionalism we had to focus very simply on the next job," said Chadwick of Sunday's action. "The purpose of all of this is that if we collectively as a team and individuals are professional, connected, and each do our job as individuals and as a team both on and off the field then the score will take care of itself.  

Feury agreed, saying unity of approach was crucial. The JV team played shorthanded because of various factors discussed in previous articles. Playing as the Empire JV, they beat the Northeast Combined convincingly and lost to Pennsylvania 14-12.

Sophomore Susan Adegoke was the chief line-breaker for that team, and freshman Julianna Aliprandi kicked well and played superb defense.

"Our structure was more sevens like, where we did not nominate a scrum half and instead opted to push all players to nominate themselves as to what roles they were filling in," said Feury. This was a challenge for the young JV players, but one that they met and have grown from."

It wasn't easy for the New Jersey girls. The practices had to be held in different parts of the state, and logistical and financial challenges kept rearing their heads. 

But, said manager Pam Laura, "we had good attendance at all the practices and that commitment added to the girls' success."

In such a dominant team performance, it is difficult to say any one player was exceptional, but some players did show they are ready to play at the next level.

Junior scrumhalf Jess Nagie was impressive, and Mia Lancelotti also had a good weekend. Prop Levlss Eligio and hooker Jordan Cowan anchored the tight five, while Brianna Whitfield and Gio Ferguson were part of an effective back row. The backs of course enjoyed plenty of scoring, and flyhalf Kayla Canett, wing Allie Mennella, and center Delia Hellander were very good.