Morris Stars Attend World Youth Rugby Festival with Rhinos Rugby Academy
By Katherine Bitgood
Two Morris Rugby stars rang in the New Year at the World Youth Rugby Festival (WYRF) with Rhinos Rugby Academy.
The festival was held December 29, 2019 to January 4, 2020 in Irvine, CA, bringing the world’s rising talent together for 7 days of nonstop youth rugby action.
Among the players from Canada, South Africa and the USA were 14-year old Neasa McLaughlin and 15-year old Catherine Mignone, both of whom got their start with Morris Rugby!
Young Ruggers
Neasa began playing flag rugby for Long Valley Wolfpack in fourth grade at age 9. A year later, she switched to tackle rugby for the Morris U14 Girls team.
Now a freshman at West Morris Central High School, Neasa is continuing to develop her skills as a loosehead prop and second row with the High School Girls team under head coach Gene Caulfield.
Flyhalf Catherine, currently a high school sophomore, was introduced to the sport by her dad, who played rugby in college.
She played tackle rugby with the Morris U14s in seventh and eighth grades, before entering high school at Horace Mann School in the Bronx, NY.
Growing the Game
Although Neasa and Catherine have been active on a rugby pitch for just a few short years, they are both already giving back to the sport and passing on their love of the game.
Knowing that Horace Mann School did not have its own rugby team, Catherine petitioned to start a program at the private school while she was still in eighth grade.
In its inaugural season last spring, the Horace Mann Girls Varsity team held its own in matches against teams from the Harvey, Rye and French American schools — despite the fact that the majority of the roster had never seen a rugby ball before!
Catherine is looking forward to the start of the team’s second spring: “It was an honor to found the team, and it is even more of an honor to captain the new varsity squad! This season, we can all focus on improving the bases we built last year. I hope to help with that as much as possible!”
Neasa is also leveraging her rugby knowledge to grow the game. During the summer, she coaches the Long Valley Wolfpack flag program’s Owls — the youngest age bracket, comprised of kids entering kindergarten and first grade.
“I have taken my USA Rugby 100 Coaching certificate,” Neasa said, “and plan on taking the 200 level to continue coaching in the game also and inspire more girls to take up playing.”
Road to the Rhinos
The girls’ path to this year’s WYRF was marked by thousands of airline miles.
Both Neasa and Catherine went on tour to Ireland in 2017 with the Morris U14 Girls. Two years later, a contingent of those players made another trip across the pond, accompanying the U19 Girls to the Portugal Rugby Youth Festival in April 2019.
Lacking enough players to field a full Morris U15 Girls side at the event, coach Kris O’Brien arranged for the players to join forces with the Rhinos Academy, thus forming a USA Schools team that was managed by former USA 7s Eagle, Josie Ziluca. This combo was rewarding.
“We reached the final of the tournament after beating teams from Portugal and Italy in the group stages and semi-final,” Neasa remembered. “In the end, unfortunately we lost 12-5 to a strong Portuguese team.”
After returning stateside, Neasa was invited to play with the Rhinos Academy U18 team at the Rocky Mountain Challenge in Denver, CO in June 2019. Her team went undefeated in the Tier 1 High School Girls bracket to win the championship — along the way defeating EIRA Midwest 94-0 and Team 5785 from Colorado 55-14 in the final.
Then in November 2019, Morris coach Bill Dobbs facilitated a Talent Identification Event (TIDE) at Veterans Memorial Park, where both Neasa and Catherine impressed USA Eagle Ryan Matyas and Rhinos Academy coaches enough for selection to the WYRF.
Festival Fun
The Rhinos U16 and U18 teams, managed by USA Eagle Neariah Persinger, spent their days at the WYRF on the Orange County Great Park fields in Irvine, CA.
After team breakfast at 8 am, Neasa and Catherine attended coaching sessions and played morning and afternoon matches against top tier teams from the west coast, including Fallbrook and RB Broncos. Festival days concluded with warm down sessions in the pool and dinner.
Despite the busy schedule, there was plenty of time for one of rugby’s most time-honored traditions: socializing!
“Between games or practices, we would hang out as a team on the field,” Catherine said. “The overall highlight was meeting all the girls on Rhinos Academy, as well as all the other tournament players. The international community that comes together under rugby is impressive, and I am so proud to be a part of it.”
Eagle Insights
Another favorite festival moment for both players was the opportunity to be coached by USA Eagles stars, Naya Tapper and Hope Rogers.
“I really enjoyed spending time again with Hope Rogers getting one-on-one tips on how to play in the front row of the scrum,” Neasa said. “She remembered meeting the Morris U14 girls at the Women’s Rugby World Cup in Ireland in 2017.”
In the open field, Catherine focused on streamlining her pass and learning a new position at inside center. “I think I really improved [my] technique during the WYRF weekend,” she said.
The guidance from USA’s top talent paid off. Neasa noted, “I put the one-on-one coaching into practice and scored two tries in my final U18 game against RB Broncos which was a personal highlight of the weekend.”
Catherine echoed Neasa’s sentiments about the final: “I was really proud of myself and of the team — we had improved from the previous day, and played super well!”
Click here to watch Neasa and Catherine lead the Rhinos to an impressive 57-0 win over RB Broncos.
The Future Is Bright
Back on the east coast, Neasa is busy preparing for Nationals in Salt Lake City, Utah in May 2020 with the Morris High School Girls. She also enjoys playing Touch Rugby on Sundays with her dad.
Catherine is looking forward to applying the knowledge she picked up from the WYRF tournament to Horace Mann’s spring season. Plus, she said is planning to “watch more professional rugby so that I can improve my knowledge of the game.”
Both girls seek to play in college in competitive programs. And, both Neasa and Catherine hope to be selected to attend future events with the Rhinos — LA 7s, WYRF 7s and a return to the Portugal Rugby Youth Festival are all in their sights.
Congratulations to Neasa and Catherine for all your rugby accomplishments so far, and many more to come!
Photos by Ronan McLaughlin
About Rhinos Rugby Academy
The Rhinos Rugby Academy was founded in 2014 in Irvine, California with the purpose of bringing Tier 1 international rugby training and game standards to US Youth Rugby. It is the Leading High-Performance academy in the USA With Comprehensive Multi-Level Training, Camps and Domestic and International Tournaments, Speed Mechanics and Training, Injury Assessment, Injury Prevention and Rehab programs.
The Academy has grown to provide athletes a clear and competitive rugby pathway from junior age, to college and professional level and it fosters an environment where athletes apply core values in both rugby and life, such as respect, honor, discipline, integrity, teamwork and accountability.
The Rugby Academy offers programs for all student rugby athletes. It is run by Derek Nellmapius (President) and Andreea Trufasu (Head of Operations). For more information contact [email protected].