Women’s Rugby looks forward

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The 2015-16 season is underway for the McMaster Women’s Rugby team.

After their performance last season, a banner has now found its spot on the wall of achievements in the David Braley Athletic Centre acknowledging the hard work of the team. Claiming the program’s first-ever OUA title and an appearance in the national final has given the team a great reputation on campus.

Though the spirits of the team were high going into the first game of the regular season, it ended in a 15-14 loss for the Marauders against the Queen’s Gaels in Kingston. Late penalty trouble spoiled the chances for the team to head back to Hamilton with a win.

When both teams met last year, the Marauders won by a single point over the Gaels.

“The whole team was very confident. We came off of a really good season being second in Canada. Our game plan was to play hard and be connected on defense,” said Colleen Irowa, a third-year player.

Looking forward, Head Coach Shaun Allen recognizes that improvements need to be made.

“We let ourselves down with too many fundamental errors and too many penalties. We need to build more width and depth in our attack so that we can go harder at the defensive line and create space.”

The Marauders are currently ranked fourth in the CIS Top 10 ranking.

With practices five days a week, this team is hungry for another OUA title and another chance to play on the national stage.

“We are going to go to nationals,” Irowa stated confidently.

Time will be the deciding factor, but one loss at the beginning of the season is not telling of the future.

This team has shown that they are competitors with the success they had last season and are looking for a similar storyline this year.

“Our hope is that we can establish a style of play that is overwhelming for our opponents and can allow our players to express themselves on both attack and defense,” said Allen.

The team will hope to shake off their first loss as they continue play on the road this coming weekend, facing the Waterloo Warriors on Saturday, Sept. 19.

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