It was another day at the office last Sunday for Concordia’s womens rugby team, in their biggest win of the season, 71-0 over Sherbrooke. “We weren’t expecting a hard game. individually each one of us better skilled,” said captain Sommer Christie.
Christie had 26 points in the game, three of them tries. Other big performances came from Leila El-Kayem and Carrie Bacher, both of whom had two tries. Lisa Church, Stephanie Moram, Lynda Domazet, Joanne Auger, and Julie Bertrand also made a try each.
The most interesting play of the game came 10 minutes into the second half when a player from both sides went down with injuries almost simultaneously in separate incidents. Stinger Andreane L’Ecuyer pulled her right pectoid muscle as she held onto the ball and hit the turf the wrong way. Seconds later a Sherbrooke player who had picked up the ball dislocated her knee with a distinct *pop* when a tackle forced her leg to crumple laterally. Although L’Ecuyer would eventually walk off the field, the Sherbrooke player wasn’t so lucky as the game was halted for half an hour before she was finally taken away in an ambulance.
Game-play was pretty messy and controlling the ball was made difficult thanks to cold winds and off-and-on rain. However, coach Sheila Turner was hoping for more of a challenge for her players. “I wish Sherbrooke tackled more so we could see what we’re like. They have bigger girls, I kind of expected better from them. It’d be nice if all the other games weren’t so easy.”
As usual, just about everything’s about preparing for McGill, the only team who’s defeated Concordia and who will host Concordia this Wednesday evening at John Abbott College. The last time Concordia played McGill, early in the season, McGill treated Concordia much the same way Concordia treated Sherbrooke on Sunday. As a result, Concordia has been working on defense against McGill’s swarming offense. “We were letting runners get through, but now our defense is pretty solid, we’ve improved so much,” said Christie.
According to Turner, her players also need to get to loose balls sooner and support the rucks and plays better.
Apart from the honour of being the best, there’s a similar desire to win the division championship this season as there was last year. Although usually the top two teams from every division is invited to the national championships, the school that hosts the tournament gets a guaranteed spot, meaning the second-place team in that division gets nothing. Last year, the second-placed Concordia couldn’t go because Bishop’s was hosting. This year Ottawa hosts.
Christie had 26 points in the game, three of them tries. Other big performances came from Leila El-Kayem and Carrie Bacher, both of whom had two tries. Lisa Church, Stephanie Moram, Lynda Domazet, Joanne Auger, and Julie Bertrand also made a try each.
The most interesting play of the game came 10 minutes into the second half when a player from both sides went down with injuries almost simultaneously in separate incidents. Stinger Andreane L’Ecuyer pulled her right pectoid muscle as she held onto the ball and hit the turf the wrong way. Seconds later a Sherbrooke player who had picked up the ball dislocated her knee with a distinct *pop* when a tackle forced her leg to crumple laterally. Although L’Ecuyer would eventually walk off the field, the Sherbrooke player wasn’t so lucky as the game was halted for half an hour before she was finally taken away in an ambulance.
Game-play was pretty messy and controlling the ball was made difficult thanks to cold winds and off-and-on rain. However, coach Sheila Turner was hoping for more of a challenge for her players. “I wish Sherbrooke tackled more so we could see what we’re like. They have bigger girls, I kind of expected better from them. It’d be nice if all the other games weren’t so easy.”
As usual, just about everything’s about preparing for McGill, the only team who’s defeated Concordia and who will host Concordia this Wednesday evening at John Abbott College. The last time Concordia played McGill, early in the season, McGill treated Concordia much the same way Concordia treated Sherbrooke on Sunday. As a result, Concordia has been working on defense against McGill’s swarming offense. “We were letting runners get through, but now our defense is pretty solid, we’ve improved so much,” said Christie.
According to Turner, her players also need to get to loose balls sooner and support the rucks and plays better.
Apart from the honour of being the best, there’s a similar desire to win the division championship this season as there was last year. Although usually the top two teams from every division is invited to the national championships, the school that hosts the tournament gets a guaranteed spot, meaning the second-place team in that division gets nothing. Last year, the second-placed Concordia couldn’t go because Bishop’s was hosting. This year Ottawa hosts.
