Jackie Finlan | The Rugby Breakdown

Women's Rugby Wins 13th National Title

12/7/2021 9:14:00 AM | By: John Schwarte

The Wayne State College women's rugby team does it again, winning their 13th national title in eight years. The Wildcats traveled to Knoxville, TN for the National Collegiate Rugby Final Four tournament and competed for the Cohen Cup, the championship trophy for the women's small college division. Selma Taylor, the junior scrumhalf out of Kansas City, Missouri, knew they needed leave it all on the field to come out victorious - and that is exactly what they did.

#1 Wayne State faced off against #16 Northern Michigan University in the semifinal matchup where the Wildcats put on a show, scoring 96 points. However, the game was much more competitive that the final score indicated. NMU came out hitting and shocked WSC in what would turn out to be the most physical game they've played in all year. Going into the matchup, the team watched film and identified NMU's key players. Isabelle Robinson, the senior prop, knew who they needed to shut down in order to be successful in the semifinal game. " We had that game strategy of knowing people's roles, and what had to be done when, and I think we did it pretty well" Robinson said. Well would be an understatement for the dominating performance, only giving up one try throughout the game. The final score was 96-5.

In the championship match, the Wildcats found themselves in a situation they haven't been in all season long; down points. During the opening minute, WSC was driving the field off of a good line break from the kickoff and after three phases, the ball was intercepted by SUNY Cortland at their 22-mark and was hauled away for the 78-meter try. "Their interception in the first 30 seconds just reminded us how hard this final game is" Robinson stated. "We came together under the post to talk as a team and we spoke through the tactics we had done the night before and to draw and fake a pass as that player always shoots up. I think it took for her to intercept it and score for us as a team to realize we need to follow our strategies we had planned the previous night, so it does not happen again." Taylor said it only added fuel to the fire. "Mistakes happen and it is how you fix them and make changes to do better" she continued. Taylor and the Wildcats adjusted the offense, and the rest of the game was performed in a dominating fashion. The Wildcat defense once again suffocated SUNY Cortland and created offensive opportunity after opportunity as WSC cruised to a 72-10 victory.

Head Coach Darrin Barner praised the defensive structure of the team. "Playing hard nose defense causes turnovers and gives us the ball back and thus a shorter length of field to score 7 points. Offense scores games, and defense wins championships" Barner said. The team has dedicated four days of practice per week, an increase from years past. This helped them install a new offense strategy to get the forward pack players in the mix with the backline players. More times than not, this creates mismatches out in open play where a forward player is lined up against a smaller backline player.

Winning the national title is not new for some of these players. Robinson has won five titles in the four years she has been here, including four in 15s and one in 7s. For the underclassmen, this is the standard set by the seniors. As for Samantha Armstrong, a senior who joined the team this year, it will be one and done. Armstrong is a wing out of Grand Island who joined because Coach Barner approached her at the Sports and Rec fair. Armstrong, although new, got plenty of playing time this weekend and even scored a 70-meter breakaway run in the semifinal game. The confidence she had in her teammates kept her nerves as bay as they created an atmosphere of intensity and trust. " The emotions were definitely high, but I never worried about the success of our team because I knew that we put in more work than any other team and that each and every player came to leave everything they have out on the field". Armstrong felt the energy as soon as they arrived at the field. Nothing was needing to be said as they were focused and ready to win the championship.

Robinson earned MVP honors this weekend, a repeat from the 2019 championship win. Robinson said it was a personal goal of hers to repeat. " Just winning the title was enough reward for the season but also winning MVP made it even sweeter. I just really wanted to push myself and leave everything I could put on the field for the girls and myself. Being announced MVP is the cherry on top of a great senior season." Taylor, Lauren Nelson, Ashton Hurley and Taylor Ference were all named to the All-Tournament team.

Wayne State will be graduating seven seniors this academic year and there is no better way to send them off the way they came in, as National Champions.

Interested in joining a national championship program? Fill out the interest form in the top right corner of your screen.

Print Friendly Version

#Rugby

Related Videos

Related Stories