Womens Rugby Undefeated

The sun was still sleeping as the Lady Ruggers made their way to the pitch at 6 am in the morning. Breakfast and coffee in tow, they climbed into vans and cars for a foggy, long, and mountainous trek to Lexington. All in the school van were quiet for the beginning of the trip, slouching on bags and teammates to get a few extra hours of sleep. Yet, after a much needed pit stop they awoke to pregame singing and dancing to such 90s classics and MMBop and Its Gonna Be Me. The drive continued smoothly through the clouds and finally, we arrived in Lexington. The ambiance changed drastically as men in uniform marched along side the van and the fortress that is VMI rose on the mountain top. It soon became apparent that the other cars were lost and the van itself could not locate the pitch. Pulling off to the side of the road at the sight of cleats, out climbed the courageous Captain of the Backs, Amanda Eclipse. After much discussion and several sharp turns up steep hills in a massive van, the van approached the pitch which had been moved due to weather to a practice football field with turf. The players in the van immediately contacted, directed, and calmed the other drivers who shortly arrived to the football "pitch."

Nervous, anxious, and excited, the William and Mary women watched the VMI team approach in full uniform, warm ups that is not camo. The warmups began in a slight drizzle and soon the William and Mary women were prepared to face our nations defense. The game played along with the rain. The rain was calm as the game became a back and forth battle. Lineout, scrum, lineout scrum. At times it felt like the backs weren't even around. However, in a glorious spur of the moment decision, fly half, Liz Forro, put William and Mary on the board with a drop kick into what should have been rugby goal posts, but were actually football posts. The VMI women were angered to be down and the rain intensified as they upped their drive. After a battle, the VMI women scored a try to take the lead which was quickly answered by a try from Liz Forro who was helped along the pitch by the team and excellent runs. The score was 8-7 William and Mary as the teams paused for half.

With it now pouring, the second half became even more intense. A constant battle for possession ensued sending the forwards into several scrums and lineouts. To quote the Captain of the Forwards, Sarah Dean, "It felt as though I was just doing squats, then run across the pitch for powerlift, squat, powerlift." The William and Mary women pressed on and scored a second try with a successful kick to follow to make the score 15-7. Enraged and possibly inexperienced, the VMI girls began to ruck sloppily throwing their hands into the ruck to snag the ball eventually leading one member to be thrown in the sin bin. With the rain still falling, the game concluded with the same intensity it began and resulted in an amazing, glorious, epic, and respectable William and Mary victory over the previously undefeated VMI. Following a post game cheer, handshakes, and picture, the wet, sleepy, proud ruggers climbed back into their vehicles for a foggy and dancing filled ride home with cookies provided by wing, Lora Faris's parents, who drove from Ohio to watch the now 2-0 Women's Rugby Club play.