The road to rugby victory
By Catherine Dunn
Cavalier Daily Associate Editor
You play on a pitch, not a field, and it's a try, not a touchdown, that'll get you the points.
At the Virginia Rugby Union state tournament, held in Roanoke this past weekend, the Virginia women's rugby team finished first and the men's team walked away with third-place bragging rights.
After edging out James Madison 12-10, the women's team will be seeded third in the Mid-Atlantic Rugby Football Union tournament this spring, "meaning we have a pretty easy road to nationals next season," team captain Brittney Martin said.
The women's team had to forfeit to JMU in last year's VRU tournament championship game after two players were injured severely, Martin said.
"We felt like we absolutely had to win this year," Martin said. "We knew we had to make a comeback."
An early victory over Mary Washington College in the first match also will propel the men's team into the MARFU tournament, a sweet reward for two grueling days of play.
"It's rough, especially in the cold, and we wear these really short shorts," said Bill Whitlock, the men's team match secretary. "It's very taxing."
Despite the physical demands of the sport, Whitlock could not see himself playing anything else.
"Football's kind of like old hat," Whitlock said. "Rugby is very dynamic. It's hard-hitting and fast-paced like football, but it's different."
Whitlock said the sport's appeal also lies in typical staples of rugby culture. Singing "all those crude, lewd rugby songs" at post-game parties with the opposing team fosters "camaraderie not only with your team, but with your opponents as well," Whitlock said.
Unless, of course, the opponent is Virginia Tech, which emerged with this season's VRU championship cup for the ninth time in the past decade.
Though the men's Division II team lost to Tech on Saturday, they earned their third-place finish with a win over JMU's Division I team on Sunday.
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