Women's rugby undefeated
Women set program record

Amdework Assefa | staff writer
aassefa2@smcvt.edu

The St. Michael’s College women’s rugby team is off to an impressive start this season with three of its five games ending in shutouts, and a weekend victory against Middlebury College, 19-5.

At the end of last season, the team made the playoffs as the eighth seeded team and lost in the first round against Stonehill College. They started the 2007 season defeating Keene State College 43-0, Mount Holyoke 56-0, and Colby-Sawyer 50-0, placing the team first in the West Conference and third in the Division III New England Rugby Football Union (NERFU).

Worth the wait

The women’s rugby team was established in 1992, but it wasn’t until 2005 that it won a game, senior scrum captain Megan Sweeney says.

The women's rugby team poses after its win against Middlebury College on Oct. 13. Photo courtesy of Mary Beth Jenssen

“It has been really great. I played for four years and I remember when we won our first game and scored our first goal so we have come really far,” Sweeney says.

She attributes the club’s recent successes to its increased interaction with the athletics department and a boost in the team's morale.

“The club was put on probation by the Student Association in 2006 for damages done at a hotel room during an away game,” Sweeney says. “The major setback has really allowed us to re-examine our commitment to the club.”

The team was forced to suffer the consequences and take responsibility for its actions, but decided to turn things around, she says.  

“At that point we were in real deep water. We had to decide to take things seriously and turn things around because we wanted to give the rugby club a good reputation,” Sweeney says. “Now we have won games and have been completely dominating on the field.”

Winning methods

Head coach Charles Cisco has been with the women's rugby team for seven years.       

“I gave them the confidence to play and make decisions on their own,” Cisco says. “A lot of the success has come from them, where they have made the decision that they are going to make themselves better.”

Cisco is making team members do different drills, so the team keeps the excitement and intensity high, he says.

The rugby team practicing its new drills on North Campus. Photo courtesy of Amdework Assefa

Senior Annalisa Anderson, president of the rugby club, and senior Hannah Naughton say they approve of the new drills Cisco has the team doing at practice.

“We have a lot of practice drills. First of all, we run to North Campus for practice and back, which has definitely helped our team with being in shape,” Anderson says.

Cisco has also made the scrum players use four men’s pads that stand 6 feet tall so the team can practice its hitting skills. The team uses the pads to hit during practice, instead of hitting each other. This way, there's no chance of a player getting injured before a game, Anderson says.


Playoff reality

This year’s players are more experienced than previous seasons, and there are a number of seniors and juniors on the team making an important contribution to the 2007 spring season, Sweeney says.

“There are only a few players that come into rugby with skill; we just kind of throw them in there,” Anderson says.

St. Michael's College defeated Middlebury on Oct. 13. Photo courtesy of Mary Beth Jenssen

This was also the first year the rugby club was invited to the fall pep rally at St. Michael's.

“To be honest the rugby club made up the majority of the crowd,” Sweeney says. " We all made a point to go because we were happy to get an invitation."

After its recent win at Middlebury, the women’s rugby team automatically qualifies for the playoffs for the second season in a row. The first playoff game is held on the 300s field on Oct. 27.

The team's last regular season game is Saturday, Oct. 20 at Smith College. The championship playoff game is held at Stonehill College in November.