The Eau Claire women’s rugby team hopes to overcome some youth and inexperience issues this season to be better prepared for the remainder of
the season.
The team lost much of its senior leadership last season and has had somewhat of a rebuilding year, but it hasn’t stopped them from working hard to improve as a team.
“We lost eight starters and were really scared the team wouldn’t be the same,” junior Allanna Wood said. “The new players are doing a very good job though, and overall the team is proud of the rookies and veterans.”
The veterans of the team worked with the rookies to improve on some of the weaknesses of the team and turn them into team strengths.
“The rookies at times have been tentative and we all need to be better at tackling,” senior Laura Flynn said. “Our team does not have that much size so we have to make up for that.”
Flynn also pointed out one of the biggest strengths on the team.
“Our strength though is definitely our pack,” she said. “We have a very strong pack. The pack is similar to the linebacker position in football.”
The Blugolds had a tough game over the weekend against the University of Illinois. After beating them last year, Illinois came up with the victory Saturday, beating Eau Claire 30-15. The women came into the game aware it would be very intense.
“We knew coming in it was going to be a hard fought game,” Flynn said. “We beat them in overtime last year to get to the Final Four so we knew they are going to come hard at us.”
Illinois started off strong in the first half, which made it difficult for the Blugolds to recover and catch up. The second half of the game was more evenly matched, but too little too late.
“We weren’t playing up to their level in the first half,” senior Marcy Reynolds said. “The team really pulled together in the second half. We woke up and played our kind of rugby. There just wasn’t enough time to come back.”
Juniors Lindsay Mikolajczyk and Terren Korth, and sophomore Kimberly DesRosier all scored tries for the team in its hard fought loss to Illinois.
The women’s rugby team encourages people to come check the team out. Unlike many sports, it competes in both the spring and the fall. There are separate male and female teams here at Eau Claire and both are always looking for more players.
“I invite friends and family to come to our games and they always come away saying it’s so much fun to watch,” Wood said. “They talk about how they didn’t realize it was such a spectator sport.”
Not only are the team’s family and friends supporting the players, a lot of strong fan support for the team comes from the men’s rugby team here at Eau Claire.
“We have a mutual respect. They come to our games, we go to theirs,” Reynolds said. “We’re all working hard and having a good time. There is not a high degree of inequality.”
The women’s rugby team will travel to Dayton, Ohio on Oct. 22 and 23 to determine the outcome of their placement in the post season, which takes place at the end of the month and into November.