Women’s rugby wins big in Iowa

Shawn Henley, Staff Writer

WSC women’s rugby displayed high-powered offense en route to winning the Northwestern tournament in Orange City, Iowa, last weekend.

“The girls kicked some butt,” Head Coach Darrin Barner said. “Our back line was untouchable.”

The women went 3-0, racking up wins over Augustana University (40-0), Northwestern College (Iowa) (48-0) and over the University of South Dakota (51-0).

“The team showed big improvements from last week,” Barner said. “We got the rust out and we were more polished this week. I think it’s fair to say that we’re heading into the Wayne tournament running on all cylinders.”

One of the key plays of the weekend by the women’s team came when Shelby Brown and Turner McPhee passed the ball back and forth to one another four times inside the last 20 yards.

“It was phenomenal what they did,” Barner said. “It was a stellar display of teamwork and it was very impressive.”

The men’s team also had an impressive day of rugby in Sioux City, getting victories over South Dakota State (15-12), University of South Dakota (22-15), and Western Iowa Tech (25-5).

“Eric Harvey had an outstanding weekend for the men,” Barner said. “We need to improve on runner support with the ball carrier for the tournament coming up this weekend.”

Barner is hoping to see improvements by the women despite the dominating performance from this past weekend.

“I would like the girls to be more physical in the team play,” Barner said. “If we do that then we are going to be tough to beat.”

Both men’s and women’s teams are at home this weekend, along with 72 other teams from across the United States and Canada for the Wayne Invitational at Tompkins Rugby Park.