It's fair to say that 2022 was a breakout year for the Rebel Rugby Academy.
A select side formed in the West with an eye toward chasing the more established teams such as Atlantis and EIRA, Rebel not only chased effectively but, in 2022, caught them.
Big Weekend at NAI 7s for Rebel Rugby Academy
With NAI championships in U18 Elite Boys and, perhaps key for our purposes here, the U16s, Rebel has now established itself as a contender in every tournament.
As defending U18 Elite champs Rebel is champing at the bit to repeat. Returning captain Arnaud Agasse will be joined by Finlay Mitchell, Andrew Newell, Jake Schumacher, and Gavin Oleson from the team that won it all last year.
Rebel already won the Elite HS division at Bloodfest in Texas, and in fact also finished 3rd. Among the players that showed well there were Ben Suanders, James Rose, Niko Zaharas, and Zach Maughan and all of those players will be expected for the NAI 7s.
So it's been a fairly methodical march toward being a team to watch for Rebel, and while they return players from last year's U18 team, it's their success at U16 which indicates that Head Coach Ethan Pougnet has an eye squarely focused on the future.
