Women’s rugby prepares for final home game
As Utah State women’s rugby team gets ready for their last home game, they keep one thing in mind: winning.
The final home game will be Saturday Nov. 1 at noon on the HPER Field.
“We’re excited for a new team,” said Aggie Head Coach Patty Kohler.
This will be their first time playing the Las Vegas Slots.
Considering that USU has a fairly new team, with 11 out of the 24 girls playing for the first time this year, and their small size, their 10-4 record is quite impressive.
But don’t let their small size fool you, for what they lack in size they make up in speed and mobility. They also have a strong forward pack, according to Kohler. The forward pack is the power of the team. They initiate the scrums and line-outs.
A scrum is the equivalent of a throw-in in soccer. There are eight people, from each team, forming the scrum, which is put into play at the place of infringement.
When the ball goes out-of-bounds, a line-out is put into play. The ball is thrown into the tunnel which separates the two lines. The teams then lift a jumper to catch the ball. The ball is then contested among the two teams.
The ball is then passed to the backs. The backs are usually faster and better ball handlers. There are seven backs and they are usually the ones who score.
“We’ve been doing quite well,” Kohler said.
This is her first season as head coach. She played rugby for about six years.
“She has a lot of heart and love for the sport,” said fly-half Tara Earl. “She is always trying to improve the team.”
Earl said that Kohler was very versatile and likes to get stuff done.
“She puts up with Dennis and us,” she said.
Dennis Kohler, the assistant coach and her husband, was the former head coach for the team.
The team practices every Tuesday and Thursday for about two hours. They have games on Saturdays.
They start practice about two weeks after the semester starts and keep going through the winter in preparation of their spring season. The spring season starts in March.
Anyone is welcome to come and learn.
“Hopefully, we can fight through the snow and play our game,” Earl said. “I expect a win.”
-vramirez@cc.usu.edu