As I was thinking about this week’s rugby article, I realized that there was something that I really needed that I was lacking; that being any knowledge at all about the sport. So I figured it best to learn the basics of the sport from one of the players themselves. Thanks to junior second row Erin Furlong, you will get the same crash course in rugby that I received.Rugby is a 15 vs. 15 sport played similar to football. The girls play with eight players forward. These are the girls who use force and strong hitting to keep the ball away from the other team or get the ball back. Then there are seven players that play back. These are the fast, quick girls that handle the ball; they are the ones responsible for scoring.
To score, the players need to get into the tri zone, similar to an end zone in football. To actually score, you must touch the ball down to the ground. This is called a try, and is worth five points. After the score, they have to kick it through the goal posts. This is called a conversion, and if it is successful, it is worth one point.
Rugby is made up of two halves, 40 minutes each, with a five-minute halftime. Time runs constantly for each half; there are no breaks. There are also no rules. It is full contact with no pads. The only time there is a penalty is if someone throws the ball forward. It can be carried forward, kicked forward, moved backward in any way possible, but not thrown forward.
So now that we know the basics of how rugby is played, let’s take a look at this year’s team and give a preview of the season to come.
This year’s team is possibly the best that West Chester has ever had, and Furlong believes that they can take the team further into Nationals then they have ever gone before.
Leading the team this year are four very worthy seniors. Michelle Kirk is the team captain. She is the 8-man of the team, and a leading scorer. Katy Black, the flanker, brings a great deal of talent to the team. Not only is she an All-American flanker, but she is also a member of the USA rugby team! Also contributing to the scoring is fly-half Whitney Hartshorne and Steph Burkhardt, who is an All- American back herself.
Not only has the team won the Eastern Pennsylvania Rugby Union over Princeton the past two years, but they have also advanced to the USA Rugby national tournament. Two years ago, they placed 16th there, and last year moved up to ninth. In these tournaments, West Chester competes with the likes of Penn State (who won the tournament last year), Army, Navy, and Stanford, among many others. There is not an NCAA tournament because there are only four established NCAA women’s rugby teams (which West Chester is one).
This year, the Lady Rams are hoping to go further then they ever have and make the final four.
“We definitely have a team that can get us there; we just need to pull it all together,” Junior Erin Furlong said.
They have already made it very likely that they will receive a bid in the tournament by winning the EPRU championship in the fall. The biggest game of the season will take place March 22 against James Madison University. If the girls gain victory there, as they so easily did last year, then they will earn an automatic spot in the tournament, their final record and ranking determining their seed.
It sounds like it will be an exciting season to watch. I’m excited to see how they fare in the season, and hopefully watch them represent our university in the National tournament again. We will have to wait and see.
Ryan Frisco is a first-year student majoring in communication studies. He can be reached at RF648257@wcupa.edu.