Rugby Women at PSU Head to Nationals

Members of the women's Plymouth State rugby team bind together in a scrum formation to push a sled carrying over a thousand pounds of teamate weight.(Cheryl Senter, NHPR)

At a “chalk talk” before the women hit the field, Coach Spencer Dickinson gets the important stuff out of the way at the beginning.

"...alright, the scouting report on the Fighting Banana Slugs...(laughing)"

The name of the one team standing in their way of a national championship is of all things, the “Banana Slugs”.

"They chose that name by student referendum 10 years ago, I guess Santa Cruz is just overrun with slugs in the springtime..."

Despite the very un-intimidating sounding moniker, Coach Dickinson warns his team that the Santa Cruz Banana Slugs will give them “a hell of a game”.
"The first thing you notice is how big they are, from number 4 to number 12…they look like power forwards at a division I college…in basketball."

During a lineout, women's Plymouth State rugby teamates lift jumper Andrea Clarke to catch the ball.(Cheryl Senter, NHPR)

Unlike basketball, the game of rugby is not widely played or followed in the U.S.

So here’s a very quick tutorial:

A rugby field—called a “pitch” in the rugby world-- is about the size of a soccer field.

A rugby ball is about the size of a football, but bigger and rounder.

The object of the game is to get the ball into the “try zone”…like the end-zone in football. That’s worth 5 points.

This is done by running, passing or kicking the ball down the field.

The challenge comes in that it’s illegal to pass the ball forward.

Another way to score is by kicking the ball…that can be worth either two or three points.

(bring up outdoor ambi)

And then there’s defense: that’s the tackling.

"It’s crazy, we compare our bruises, we are very proud of them."

That’s co-captain Meg Kennedy. She’s tall, lanky and fast. And like most of her teammates, has legs full of nice big bruises.

"I’ve always wanted to play physical sports, I played lacrosse, I played field hockey, I wanted to play football but they wouldn’t let me, I wanted to play hockey, they wouldn’t let me, this just really appeals to me."

Kennedy picked the right sport. Despite the tackling, rugby players don’t wear any protection…no shin guards, no shoulder pads, no helmets.

Members of the women's Plymouth State rugby team hold a Friday afternoon scrimmage .(Cheryl Senter, NHPR)

And as senior co-captain, Adrienne “Ace” Acosta points out, in rugby the girls really do play like the boys.

"We play exactly like the boys, it’s one of the few sports that has the exact same rules…it’s the exact same thing…we could walk onto the boys game and it would be the same rules."

Breaking any and all stereotypes about cheerleaders and rugby players, Acosta is also captain of the PSU's cheerleaders.

Most of the rugby players participate in other sports and none of the women grew up playing rugby.

That’s because most high schools don’t offer it…and even at the collegiate level rugby is still only a club sport, not varsity.

That means on a bureaucratic level rugby operates less like softball and a lot more like chess club.

The team is funded through activity fees. The players are responsible for setting up their games, hiring the coach, and writing their press releases.

And say captains Meg Kennedy and Ace Acosta, they have an identity separate from other PSU sports teams.

Members of the women's Plymouth State rugby team hold a Friday afternoon scrimmage .(Cheryl Senter, NHPR)

Meg: "Should we tell her about why we are blue and red and not green?" Ace: "We are not a school affiliated sport we are technically not Plymouth panthers, we’re not, what are they, green and white, we pick our own colors, we are the marauders."

This is a source of pride, not shame, for the Marauders.

And they don’t seem concerned that their success is in any way getting overlooked by the school.

Kelly Williams is a senior and plays fullback.

"Oh, they’re buzzing about us, they know we are a big deal, we have varsity football no one cares about them they never win, they all know what we are all about, there were signs here when we got back, everyone knew, we walk around campus everyone’s like oh hey nice job guys keep it going, people know
PSU has had strong women’s rugby for years, doing so well they’ve actually been pressured to move up from Division II to the more competitive level Division I."

If they win on Saturday, it would be the second time the team has won a title since the National division II championship began six years ago.

But it would be the first one for the current players.

The women's Plymouth State rugby team end their scrimmage unified.(Cheryl Senter, NHPR)

One secret to the team’s success might be that they don’t over indulge in the one activity rugby is closely tied to: drinking.

PSU Captain Ace Acosta.

"I play on leagues in the summer and some of the friends I have all they do is drink on their schools’ teams but then again their teams don’t win so we have a very structured competitive team right now so we play to win and get things done and the game comes first, socializing is not our main priority."

That doesn’t mean the ladies are entirely clean-cut.

Singing rowdy songs is also central to rugby culture.

And the songs are well…here’s what we can play of one of their favorites.

(song bleeped out)

Here’s one that’s a little more appropriate for a family audience.

(song)

For NHPR news, I’m RK.