St. Louis Sabres v. Tulsa Women's Rugby Club

This game was my first full match, a full 80 minutes!

The day was muggy, sunny, with a stiff breeze from the south. The game didn't start until 3 o'clock, and the afternoon was hot. We spent as much time in the shade as possible before the match. The Sabres started by receiving, with the Tulsa women on defense.

Our first several phases did not look very good, and it became quickly apparent that the sir was a little wet behind the ears. He told us that this was his first game officiating, and he was doing it for free. Mad props to the sir for donating his time! He got better and better as the match went on. I also really liked the steadiness of his cadence when initiating the scrum.

Early on, though, his greenness was obvious. He missed calls, including a few for dangerous play. He accepted respectful feedback from the captains, though. He also allowed rolling substitutions, which was a boon for both teams, what with the heat and the eventual injury toll.

I don't want to get too much into the strengths or weaknesses of either team; I'm neither a coach nor a captain; it's not my place to critique our play, apart from my role in it.

I went in at the half as wing, and stayed there for about 20 minutes. I did get one good run, and gained a few meters. I think I did better in this game than in the last at evasive running. But the fullback, Toya, told me later that she was outside of me, calling for a pass, and I totally ignored her. The truth is, I didn't even hear her. When I get the ball, I think I get tunnel vision. I can't see or hear my support, and I can't perceive where the potential weaknesses in the defense are. I was talking this over with my teammate, Lanna, wondering whether that's something that I can learn, or if it's hard-wired. My fear since starting rugby has been that I don't have the skill to play a sport that requires quick, decisive action. I'm afraid that the tunnel vision phenomenon that I experience in combat situations (and a rugby game is a combat situation) is part of who I am, and will always restrict my athletic career. Lanna says I'm too hard on myself. I can improve my awareness and decision making with practice. In particular, she thinks it would be helpful for me to do more drills of the three-on-two, five-on-three, and so on type. However, the Wichita Barbarians don't do much of that in practice, so I don't often get the opportunity to run those drills. I'm excited by the prospect that this is something I can learn, though.

After about 20 minutes, our coach took me out at wing and told me to stay fresh. With 10 minutes remaining, she sent me in at flanker. Once again, I felt like I made a much bigger difference as part of the pack than as a back, especially on defense. I feel very confident going into a ruck, and was instrumental in helping to turn the ball over for us a couple of times. I made two critical tackles. Since I was fresh, I was better able to hustle to the breakdowns, which was important as a lot of the team were feeling the effects of the heat and the 80 minute match.

I would have liked more playing time, but I understand why I didn't get it. If I were a coach, I would keep me in reserve. I may have a knack for some aspects of rugby, but that can't make up for the lack of practicing with the rest of the team.

I noticed a few areas where I've improved since my last game: I have a better understanding of what my assignment is at any given time, and do a better job of executing it; I do a much better job of staying in a supporting position, ready to help continue play; I'm more willing to commit to a ruck or tackle, instead of thinking, "Oh, I need to stay out of that so I can be ready for my job."

There are still areas where I need to improve, though. My fitness could be better, especially as a flanker. Running from breakdown to breakdown and then working at high intensity to ruck or tackle really wears me down. I have great endurance from my running, cycling, and triathlon background, but that high intensity stuff gets me. After 10 minutes in the pack, I was huffing and puffing pretty hard, and I was glad when the final whistle blew! I still need a lot of work on reading a defense, and running to exploit the seams, holes, and weaknesses that I see. I need to work on being more aware of my surroundings, so that I'm able to make a crucial pass. I need to work through the tunnel vision, whatever it takes.

I also may have sort of shouted at another player that she needed to release the ball. And her teammate may have shouted back that it was already out. And then I may have shouted that it's not out if someone's still laying on top of it. So I need to work on keeping my mouth shut.

I'm starting to feel like my basic skills are pretty solid, though. Passing, catching, running, tackling, rucking, these are things that I can do, and do well. I'm proud of that. I want to keep working, though, so that I can take my capabilities from good to exceptional.

Oh! By the way! Final score was Sabres 27 - Tulsa 17.

My First Game: MOARK vs. The White Sheep

I am wearing 16 there in the center. I'm like a tiger waiting to pounce.

I played a game of rugby!

And I didn't get hurt!

Well, not badly, anyway.

It's strange. I'm accustomed to writing race reports, and I'm always able to come up with plenty of detail about what went on, how I did, what I learned, what I need to work on. But in running, cycling, and triathlon, I have all this time where I'm alone with my thoughts, and I can process what's happening and compose my ideas as I go.

There's no time to compose thoughts in rugby.

So this will be considerably more scattered than my race reports.

That's me in the ruck!

I've been practicing to go in at scrum half and fly half, but the Sabres coach started me at winger. Which was fine, by the way; I was just excited to get to start! But I hadn't really studied winger much, so I was getting a crash course from my teammates as we went along. Highlight of the first half (of three, by the way) was getting an outside pass and running it for a gain of about five meters. Looking back, though, I recognize that I didn't use any of the fancy footwork, cutting, or spinning moves that I've been practicing. Instead, I ran it straight into contact, directly into the prop right in front of me. I took it in hard, placed the ball back, and felt that it was a successful play.

But it's not really how a back would play, is it? Especially wingers. Wingers should be swift, with good pace, an ability to read the defense, see the holes, and zip through them. I have no recollection of even looking for any holes. I had the ball, and I had every intention of running it straight forward, no matter who was in my way. Thinking back, I probably could have gotten around that tighthead. I'm sure that I was faster than her. And the Sheep's defense wasn't that great. There were probably holes there. And I was inside the 22. I could probably have scored a try. But I didn't.

See that hustle?

I sat out the second half, but there was a third half, because originally there were supposed to be two women's games, but too few players showed up to field three teams. I went in at strong side flanker for the third half. One of our props taught me how to scrum during the second half. And I adored it. I did get to run the ball a couple times on a pick-and-go, but didn't really gain any yardage. Where I really excelled was in rucking and tackling. As a wing, I felt like I always had to be backing away from the action, waiting for the ball to come to me, waiting for the play to slow down so the backs could have a turn. As a flanker, I could get right in the middle of the action and attack. Also, I got to hit stuff.

After a few minutes in at flanker, the coach asked me to switch to scrum half. I was excited to go in at the position I'd been studying! But honestly, it was a mess. I couldn't get the ball out cleanly very often, I didn't do very well at controlling the pace of the game, and I had trouble seeing enough of what was going on to make good decisions about directing my pack. And I felt again like I always had to hold myself back out of the action, waiting for someone else to ruck, someone else to tackle, someone else to run. I didn't like that very much, and a couple of times got frustrated and just rucked over myself.

This was just a match for fun at a festival in Columbia, MO, so it was a perfect opportunity for me to get my first playing time. And I have no idea what the final score was, but I know that we scored at least seven tries and shut the other team out.

"Whoa, WTF?! Aw, crap, that was the ball."

The most important thing that I learned in this game was that I do better when I can be a part of the action. I've been practicing at scrum half and fly half, but I've also wanted to get looks at 8 man, and now that I've played flanker a bit, I think that's where I belong. Maggie Alphonsi of Great Britain is a flanker, and she's a beast--driving the team forward at every ruck and at every tackle, it seems like. I can be that kind of flanker! And this isn't football; when I was on the front line playing football, I never touched the ball unless the other team totally botched the kick-off. But even playing in the pack, I have just as much chance to run the ball and score tries as I would at scrum half or fly half. And I can still practice my drop kicking and place kicking, and help my team there.

All in all, I was happy with my performance on Saturday. I can't wait to play again!

Injury roll:

Scratched and swollen eye, from a finger that found it's way into
my eyeball in a ruck.

Boot marks and bruises from getting stepped on.

Stiff, swollen fingers from jamming them on
the ball (knocked on), then bending them
backwards on a tackle.

See?! So swollen!

My First Almost-Game: St. Paddy's Day Tournament

I almost got to play in my first rugby game.

I was excited and nervous to travel to Topeka for the tournament. I would have been more excited and less nervous had my rugby buddy not told me, "You'll definitely get some playing time." I wasn't sure that I wanted playing time, really.

See, I have this thing with excellence. In everything I do, I want to be excellent at something before I have to do it in public. Not sure why that is. Maybe it's just because I don't want to look like a moron in public. Or maybe it's because I don't want to offer an opportunity for anyone to correct me. Maybe I don't like being told what to do, and being unsure of what I'm doing is a prime opportunity for that. Anyway, I was nervous about being thrown into a game when I wasn't even sure about the basic rules.

I must have been sending that vibe pretty strongly out into the Universe, because I manifested a great excuse not to play.

I was warming up with the Sabres, going hard to prove that I had the athleticism to hang with the team, even though I'd barely touched a rugby ball before. The Sabres were running continuity, going through some plays and stuff, and I and another rookie were providing some opposition for them. Not full contact, of course, just light touch.

My touches were not, apparently, light enough. I accidentally got my arms all the way around the 8 man while she was running, and she ran through my right elbow. Instant pain, and a string of profanities flowed forth from my mouth. A few people asked if I was okay, and I was like, "No!" But there was nothing I (or anyone else) could do, at that point. I was so disappointed, and so frustrated. I walked off a ways in case I started crying.

The Sabres finished running their warm up series, and got ready for their first game. I walked off on my own, for a while, to feel sorry for myself. Had myself a good cry, then talked myself out of the Bad Place, and determined that I would do my best to support my friend (and her team) in the game. I walked back to our pitch past an ambulance past an ambulance into which they were loading a guy who was really hurt on a backboard with a neck brace. I felt a little better about what had happened to me.

Best I can figure, I hyperextended my elbow. I couldn't bend it more than about 20º for that first day. It bruised and swelled really badly. I couldn't bend it enough to do basic things, like take off a shirt or unzip my pants. I think I did some damage to the ligaments. By the end of the next day, though, I had a little bit more range of motion. I think it'll get better with time (and without the assistance of doctors).

Also, I served as touch judge in my first two games. Which I sucked at. Because I'd never played and didn't know the rules. So I guess the Universe still found a way to humble me that day.