It’s only taken five weeks with their new coach for the women’s rugby club to begin what may prove to be their most impressive season ever. Along with new coach Matthew Cartwright, the NCSU Women’s Rugby Football Club has brought their overall season to 3-0 after thrashing No. 9 UNC 65-10 Saturday.
Senior in communication media and NCSU WRFC’s safety officer, Katy “Red” Walls, claimed the victory over the weekend was the best thing that’s happened to her since she incurred an injury in February.
“I’ve never been more happy in my entire life,” Walls said. “For four years, we’ve had our asses handed to us by this UNC team. It’s not usually even close. Usually, they destroy our face. Just watching my teammates obliterate the crap out of some Carolina kids was the best thing they could have done for me while I’m out.”
Junior in psychology and club pack captain Devin Kinkead did not expect the UNC competition to be such a one-sided affair.
“We were going into it expecting to play hard but not necessarily to win,” Kinkead said. “We made three tries in the first 15 minutes. After that, it was just try after try after try. We played so cohesively as one unit. We didn’t play for the glory; we played for each other. It’s the best game I’ve ever played, hands down.”
Destroying Carolina’s squad is not even the beginning to the success inspired by Cartwright. After posting two respectable performances at Rucktoberfest , the club has gone completely undefeated, demolishing UNC-Wilmington 50-5 and Virginia Tech 34-18.
Cartwright, who was involved with the professional rugby team Harlequins for over four years in the UK and then moved on to coaching, described how he has worked to rebuild the club from the ground up.
“I implemented a structure to make them a lot more technically aware and then taught them the basics and upwards for each separate event that can happen on the field,” Cartwright said. “So a ruck , a maul or a scrum. Basically, going through the technical aspects of the game and thinking intelligently about rugby and what they should be doing on the field when making decisions and plays.”
Cartwright has the ultimate confidence in his team heading into this weekend’s away game against UNC-Asheville .
“I think we’ll go undefeated for the rest of the season,” Cartwright said. “After UNC , which we were focused on, we planned to implement more game plans and more technical things that we can put into matches so we can ease our positions and try people in different positions and see how they perform. But really, I think we will go undefeated for the rest of the season and be prepared for the matrix season in the spring and get into nationals.”
The USA Rugby Union’s matrix season, which starts in the spring and decides both national rankings and which teams receive bids for nationals, will be the true test for the women’s rugby club. After defeating
Senior in nutrition science and club president Maureen “Moe” Kelly, who recruited Cartwright while playing rugby in Leeds, shed light on the lesser known, philanthropic side of the women’s club rugby team.
“In the past, we’ve done a lot of community service,” Kelly said. “Right now, every Tuesday and Thursday in Fayetteville, there’s a rugby camp for younger kids who we teach the rules of the game for both boys and girls. It’s a good way to get our name out there and it’s really fun; it’s like a mentor program.”
Despite the club’s recent successes, the squad still wishes for all interested parties to try out, with or without having prior rugby experience. The team holds practice on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5:30-7:30 p.m . at Method Road.
Walls has one sentiment to give those questioning whether or not they would like to pursue the game of rugby.
“It’s a misconception that rugby is inherently dangerous,” Walls said. “When you play well, the way rugby’s supposed to be played, amazing things happen and no one gets hurt.”
For more information contact club president Maureen Kelly at mmkelly2@ncsu.edu .
