Bradford resident Danny Neighbour was born in a small village near the seaside town of Bridlington, Yorkshire, England.

Near the North Sea, it’s just about 150 miles from the town of Rugby where, you might guess, the sport originated.

Neighbour spent plenty of time on the pitch growing up, starting with minis at age 7 and playing high school, club and college. Now, 37 years later, Neighbour will take the reins of St. Bonaventure men’s rugby after 10 seasons with the program.

He began coaching part time for the Bonnies in 2014 and has been an assistant to most recent head coach Tui Osborne for the last five years. Osborne, it was announced last week, has been named attack coach for the Miami Sharks, an expansion Major League Rugby franchise.

Neighbour explained Osborne will return to the program for the fall 15s seasons because MLR plays during spring.

“He’ll return as attack coach and backs coach, and I’ll carry on as head coach and forwards coach,” he said. “Tui staying on board (as an assistant for the fall season) will make the transition easy and I’m just excited for what the future holds.”

Osborne said, “Danny is a teacher at heart and our collaboration through the years has facilitated our continued success as a program. My confidence in Danny is strong and I’ve always viewed him as an extension of my role as head coach.”

Neighbour added, “(Tui) has treated me like a co-coach, not like an assistant, so I’ve been very involved in a lot of the decision making and a lot of everyday stuff some assistants wouldn’t be involved in. I’ve enjoyed having that responsibility and being involved like that; it’s another reason why we’ve become a strong team with a strong culture.

“I’m looking forward to carrying that on and hopefully I can bring some of my own ideas and influences to only better where we already are.”

After growing up in Bridlington, Neighbour eventually made his way to the United States and was a player/coach for North Penn Rugby Club near Philadelphia where he met his wife, Jill, a Bradford native. They returned to the area to start their own business, The Neighbours Kids daycare, which they ran successfully for 14 years.

“When we came up here I was very much moved on from rugby, running our own business, starting a family and all that stuff,” Neighbor recalled.

Being head coach of a rugby program was “not something I thought about 10 years ago, I’ll be completely honest with you,” Neighbour said.

But then in 2020 Jill was named director at The Learning Center and the couple’s children, 12-year-old Finley and 10-year-old Gwyneth, have gotten a little older and more independent.

“I realized then it was starting to be more of a career thing than anything,” he said. “Before I was treating it as just fun for me to do and be a part of.”

Neighbour said his kids love going to the games and will “randomly come to practice with me. They love being around the guys and around that whole atmosphere — they get a big kick out of it.

“When I’m on the road they’ll watch the games if they’re streamed live, so they’re pretty involved. That’s part of the reason why I’m able to do what I do, because coaching is obviously not the greatest career for a family person,” being away nights and weekends, Neighbour said.

“I try to be at as much of the kids’ extracurricular activities as I possibly can, but that’s definitely the hard part,” he admitted. “I couldn’t do what I do without the support of Jill, who has done nothing but encourage me to follow what I do and be great at what I do.”

The Bonnies’ program has been nationally ranked since Osborne’s arrival in St. Bonaventure and throughout Neighbour’s tenure, including a national championship in 2021.

SBU ousted Wheeling University 26-13 Saturday in the Collegiate Rugby Championship Division I quarterfinals. They move on to face Brown University at a neutral site, Penn State Berks, on Dec. 2. Indiana squares off with Notre Dame College in the other semifinal for the right to play for a national championship in Houston during the weekend of Dec. 8-10.

“We’re developing players as humans, not just as players to win a national championship,” Neighbour said. “That requires a lot more off-the-field involvement beyond coaching skills on a Tuesday night. It’s having them be good students, good people involved in the community and thinking about the decisions they make off the field as well as on.

“Hopefully that all translates ultimately into them being better players because they’re better humans.”