Written by: Jaylin Hardin | Sports Editor
With both men’s and women’s+ rugby in Washington D.C. for the National 7s Tournament Collegiate Rugby Championship, each team faced formidable opponents from all over the country. Though it wasn’t an easy fight, the Western rugby program put on a good show, representing the West Coast and Oregon in the Small College division.
First-round nerves hit both teams, dropping them to lower brackets in the first round. Women’s+ limited experience on the national stage may have manifested as they went scoreless until the third round, where they scored five tries against eighth-ranked team, Sewanee the University of the South.
“It was a bit nerve-wracking because it was our first time going, but we all fought as hard as we could,” said junior Shabryna Herrera. “We all wanted it. It was a great learning experience, not just for me, but for the team.”
This tournament was the second time the men’s team had attended the 7s CRC, and they fared better than their counterparts. Going two and two in their matchups, their results this year were an improvement from last year.
The teams now travel into the offseason, with many members of the men’s team playing for the Oregon Sharks Rugby Academy to hone their skills. Some players include Justice Donahoo, Isaac Bare, James Tiboni and Jacob Smith. Bare was also in a six-way tie for the most tries scored by a single player in the tournament — he scored five tries total — as well as in the top ten for most points scored all weekend — a total of 25. Smith was in the top twenty for conversions — the kick after a team scores a try, similar to a field goal in football, which offers the scoring team the opportunity to add two more points to the board.
“It was really fun to go to a large tournament like this,” Bare said. “I think the tournament was (a) good experience for our team because most of our team is returning next year and that has me already excited.”
Bare also talked about how it was a fun opportunity to compete against players he had met at the Men’s Rugby All-Stars tournament. “In our final we played Denver and one of their players was my roommate at All-Stars and it was fun to have the opportunity to play against them,” he said.
Sophomore Micahel Hager shared similar thoughts on his experience at Nationals. “I didn’t get the chance to travel with the team to the tournament last year, so it was an entirely new experience,” he said. “It was fun. A lot of the guys had never been to (Washington) before. We’re a pretty young team, but we’ll definitely be back next year.”
The men’s team took third place in the Bowl Bracket and eleventh overall, and women’s+ took second place in the Shield Bracket and fourteenth overall. The results of the matchups are below:
Men’s:
First round — versus Christendom College, loss 7 – 31
Second round — versus Howard University, win 29 – 10
Third round — versus Loyola University Maryland, loss 12 – 21
Fourth round — versus Denver University, win 20 – 14
Women’s+:
First round — versus Colby College, loss 0 – 50
Second round — versus Ohio Wesleyan, loss 0 – 34
Third round — versus Sewanee the University of the South, win 25 – 24
Fourth Round —versus Baldwin Wallace University, loss 0 – 34
Both men’s and women’s+ begin practice again in the fall for their 15s seasons.
Contact the author at howlsports@wou.edu
