Rugby team performs well over weekend

Seven Utah State women’s rugby players participated in a tryout for a competitive rugby team in Portland, Ore. last Saturday and played in two games against teams from California and Oregon.

Brooke Lambert and Lissa Woolf were invited back to an additional tryout Sunday afternoon.

“It was a really good experience,” Lambert said. “We had a good time. It was good to get out of Utah.”

USU Head Coach Michele Olpin said it was good for some of her players to play against more experienced women.

“Some of [the other players] have been playing rugby longer than our girls have been alive,” she said. “It was a whole new world of rugby.”

Olpin said she was pleased a couple of her players were good enough to get invited to the Sunday tryout.

“It didn’t surprise me at all that either of those two made it,” she said. “If they have any desire to play after college, this is the way to go.”

Lambert said only a limited number of players from the region were selected for the additional tryout.

“We played a couple of games on Saturday and then there was a callback tryout on Sunday,” she said. “Only about 35 players made it. They were going to pick about 20 for the final team.”

Lambert said she chose not to participate on Sunday.

“You had to pay a lot of money,” she said. “It’s just not what I want to do.”

Olpin said while she was there, she received a lot of advice from other coaches on how to improve the rugby union that USU is a part of.

“We need to have harder contact and a faster level of play,” she said. “It will help the union. We’re not to that level yet.”

On Saturday, Oct. 22, the Aggies lost on the road to the Salt Lake City Slugs 15-10. Olpin said the Slugs won the game in the final seconds.

“We were tied and they scored in the last 10 seconds or so,” she said. “It was a really disappointing loss. It was a really bad game on our part.”

USU beat SLC in Logan 28-12 on Oct. 1.

This Saturday, the Aggies will play the Idaho State Bengals in Pocatello. Olpin said USU should cruise to an east victory, but the Aggies shouldn’t assume anything.

“They shouldn’t be a challenge,” she said. “They’re a developing team. They might not even have 15 players. We usually beat them 60 or 70-0. But, I thought we’d beat the Slugs too.”

Even though there is a huge gap between the teams, Olpin said she likes playing ISU.

“We try to support them as much as we can,” she said. “If they can get good, that would be one more competitive team in the union.”

-bhhinton@cc.usu.edu