Two teams that started their non-conference ACRC season with convincing wins have more convincing to do as they clash this weekend in the Southern Tier of New York State.

Iona, which shoved aside a solid Fordham team 53-3, travels to St. Bonaventure, which slammed Syracuse 81-0. It’s worth noting that not that long ago Syracuse were one of the top teams in the Northeast. SBU has to be happy with the victory.

“We have a good relationship with the Syracuse coaches and they’re good guys, so we were happy to get that game in,” said St. Bonaventure Head Coach Clarence Picard. “We got a lot of guys playing time and went through a number of checklists on how we want to approach certain situations. With Iona coming here we needed to do that.”

Iona has thrown the Rugby East into a small tizzy simply because new Head Coach Bruce McLane (who is a co-host of the RuggaMatrix America podcast with Goff Rugby Report editor Alex Goff) is at the helm. McLane was head or assistant coach for New York Athletic Club when they won Super League championships in 2005, 2008, 2010, and 2012, and has revamped the Iona approach.

“We know they will be tough, and that’s why we spend much of the second half [against Syracue] having the forwards work through the phases,” said Picard.

Led by senior wing Greg Johnson and captain and inside center John Sullivan, who scored three tries, Bonnies looked bonny in the backs, and with Luis Carpio (who pays prop and No. 8) powering through and getting them plenty of go-forward (and two tries) SBU is looking good.

They will need to. Iona, got tries from Evan Staikos, John D’Allara, Michael Marino, Pat Morris, Brian Moyo, John Petteruti, Michael Scarcella, and John Strehle in a very even spread of scoring glory when they beat Fordham. The scoring spread is just one indication of how the team as a whole is coming together.

“What Bruce McLane has brought to the team is work ethic, fundamentals, and a commitment to fitness,” said flyhalf Andrew Cacinovic. “He just made it clear that more commitment was needed - a big commitment - for u to do well. We had three freshmen starting and a lot of changes in the team, but we know what we need to do to play well.”

It’s defense and set pieces first, said Cacinovic. If Iona stops the other team from gaining ground, they can feast off mistakes.

“We can always have more effort and work more together,” said Cacinovic, “The offense will come.”

And even on a bad day effort and defense goes a long way. It’s a long trip to St. Bonaventure, but Iona will get the basics right, and worry about the flash later.