The women’s rugby team kicked off its season with a training tour through Scotland over spring break. The team returned to the U.S. with a 3-0 record and experience that will help it in its 7s season this spring.
The team entered the competition unsure what level of competition to expect, Allie Brouckman ’15 said, and was surprised to win all three games. She noted that the victories bode well for the remainder of the season.
The Big Green played both university and club teams. The Big Green defeated the University of St. Andrews 29-19, Stirling County women’s rugby club 14-8 and the University of Glasgow 33-7.
The game against St. Andrews was back-and-forth at the beginning, but the Big Green eventually put the home team away.
“It was a really fun game to play — fun getting our groove back,” Diana Wise ’15 said. “We were a little rusty, but we had some great plays and great team tries.”
Stirling’s players, who came from the club team and the local university, were much larger than the Big Green’s, which made it a hard-fought game.
“We were nervous but were aggressive, especially in contact and on defense,” Wise said. “Defense is normally one of our weaknesses, but a lot of players played very aggressively and made some game-saving tackles. Since it was such a low-scoring game, we needed to be really good on defense.”
Against Glasgow, the Big Green came out strong and dominated its host university. The team was able to play many of its younger players in the win. Audrey Perez ’17 and Aiko Laski ’17 both scored tries in the win.
“The rookies we put in were absolutely fantastic,” Brouckman said. “They went in all over the place in terms of position and time and they were extremely flexible and played fantastically.”
The new players’ success, Brouckman said, bodes well for future seasons.
The team’s biggest challenge was adjusting to differences in rules and style. In Scotland, teams play by U-19 rules for scrums, which means that teams can only advance the ball one and a half meters in a scrum and rotate 45 degrees. There are no limits on moving or wheeling the scrum in Ivy rugby.
Additionally, Brouckman said that the Scottish teams were “very aggressive” and “ball hungry.”
“We were not as used to that from our fall 15s matches,” she said, “but it definitely made us up our game in the ruck.”
Outside of the games, the players enjoyed their time abroad sightseeing, visiting castles and practicing near Arthur’s Seat, a historic peak in Edinburgh.
The players enjoyed experiencing the rugby culture in another country, Wise said. In Scotland, club teams have sponsors and play in large stadiums.
“It was really great to be in an environment where rugby is so celebrated,” Wise said in a text message. “Rugby is still an up-and-coming sport in the States, so it was fun to play in an area where rugby has been around so long.”
The team transitions to 7s this spring, as opposed to 15s, which it played in Scotland and in the fall.
Brouckman said that the aggressiveness of the Scottish teams will benefit the Big Green come 7s season because the game is much quicker and wide open than 15s.
The team heads to West Point, N.Y., for a series of games against various opponents, including the United States Military Academy, who defeated them in the ACRA National Championships in the fall.
