Concordia women’s rugby picks up first win of the season in dominating fashion
Rain and humidity did not seem to affect the Concordia women’s rugby team as they shut out the Université de Sherbrooke 85-0 on Sept. 8 to bring their record to 1-1 for the season.
It didn’t take long for the Stingers to get on the scoreboard. They fought their way forward, and within the opening five minutes they got their first five points off a try by lock Jenna Thompson. This was followed up by another seven points within minutes, and by the 30-minute mark, Concordia was already leading 12-0.
The Stingers controlled the game for almost the entire first half, managing crisp passes, and communicating well with one another. Concordia was able to keep Sherbrooke trapped in their own zone at all times. Attempts by the opposing team to break away were quickly shut down by strong tackling and smart plays during the scrums.
The first half went by quickly, with Concordia dominating and scoring a total of 50 points within the first 40 minutes of the game.
“We have to focus on our work ethic and, just no matter what the score is on the scoreboard, that we’re going 100 per cent all the time,” said Stingers fullback Emily Hickson.
The second half slowed considerably in comparison to the first. Sherbrooke found some energy but was still unable to create any scoring chances. This allowed the Stingers to take even more control of the game, and increased their lead to 57-0.
With such a large lead, Concordia head coach Graeme McGravie subbed out some of their starters, giving other players a chance to get game experience as well.
“We put the girls on who don’t normally start and they’re pretty motivated to play so that kind of keeps the play going,” McGravie said.
Motivation for these players was not an issue as Concordia continued to press Sherbrooke, playing in the opposing end for almost the entire second half. Thanks to strong individual efforts as well as smart team play, Concordia managed to rack up another four tries and conversions to give themselves a 78-0 lead.
In the last few minutes of the second half, Hickson got the ball and ran diagonally across the field into the try zone, adding yet another five points to their lead. A successful conversion brought the Stingers up to their final score of 85-0.
Despite the large margin of victory, McGravie felt that there was room for improvement.
“There was a lot of stuff that I thought wasn’t done properly, that we’ve done in practice, and if [the players] want to see the field against Bishops [University] or even make the bench against Bishops then they better start doing what we coach them,” McGravie said. “I know they’ll respond to that, they’re a good bunch of girls so I’m pretty excited.”
The Stingers’ next game is an away game against Bishops on Sept. 16.
