Rugby is an exhilarating, but under-appreciated sport to watch on campus. The women’s rugby team provides much entertainment to students from big, physical hits to explosive breakaway scores, all while playing near the heart of campus on the Colorado Mesa University (CMU) Rugby pitch just in front of Escalante Hall. They finished as the second best team in the nation last Spring.
The women’s rugby team plays two types of rugby depending on whether they are in their spring or fall season: rugby sevens and rugby fifteens.
Rugby sevens is the style played in the Olympics; it has 14 minute games but only seven people on the field for each team. It is typically fast paced with lots of running, sprints and scoring.
Rugby fifteens is played in the fall. There are 15 people on each side during an 80 minute match. It is a slower game that features more contact and tackling, and the amount of people on the field leads to lower scoring games.
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Former Team USA rugby member and current head coach Mackenzie “Mack” Lewis started the club team with her roommate Bobby Bouchard in 2009. The team would quickly see success going undefeated in 2009 and logging a 2010 league championship and also a number eight national ranking on route to a Sweet Sixteen Appearance in the DII National Tournament that season.
Lewis was an All-American in 2010. Her veteran experience on the team and her initiative to start the rugby team her freshman year made Lewis the obvious choice for head coach after graduating in 2013.
“I actually came here to play soccer, but I ended up [disagreeing with] the coach. I was already on the USA rugby team, so my roommate and I at the time started the women’s rugby team here in 2009. We played, student coached and then when I graduated with my undergrad, I got hired on to officailly coach so I’ve been here for the whole duration,” Lewis said.
Lewis used to coach both the men’s and women’s teams at the same time but had to switch to just the women in 2022 in order to make better time for recruiting and fundraising.
Successful fundraising and effective recruiting is pertinent to any sport but even more so for club sports since they are not able to offer scholarships and do not receive the same funding as varsity or NCAA sanctioned sports.
Lewis travels to high school rugby tournaments to recruit players from around the state. Lewis and the team work as the catering staff for big events like the Maverick Hoedown or the baseball kickoff. The hourly wages earned go right back into the program, and they, along with school funding, allow each player to only have to pay $150 for the season.
The athletes also play a major role in recruiting. They set up booths at the Mesa Experience and during the first weeks of school to recruit anyone interested in the sport even if they have no prior experience.
“[Recruiting] is very important because we have such a big turnaround from our sevens season to our fifteens. We had just seven returners from last season and clearly we can’t fill the team of 15 with only seven players. So we need to be constantly recruiting people and to be able to get them excited about trying something new and a sport many people probably haven’t done,” junior scrum half Ryleigh Blatnik said.
After a deep playoff run in the Spring, the Mavericks are 2-2 this season.
They opened the year in Colorado Springs, Colorado to play Colorado College on Sept. 11 Blatnik scored the first try of the game which was followed by four more Maverick scores as they cruised to a 35-15 win.
The team then played New Mexico State University for their Sept. 18 home opener. Eight Mavericks scored a try during a lopsided 95-5 blowout. Freshman inside center Reese Barber led the way for Colorado Mesa University (CMU) as she scored a team-best 4 trys. CMU’s defense tallied some big hits early into the match, setting the tone for the rest of the day.
“Being aggressive on defense right off the bat really helps set the tone physically. The harder we work on defense, the quicker we can get to offense and score,” sophomore inside center Reese Barber said.
CMU then traveled to Boulder, Colo. to play the Division I University of Colorado (CU). Both teams exchanged scores early and continued to fire back and forth for the remainder of the match. Junior wing Zelly Moore scored a hat trick of trys and managed to even the game up 31-31 with just minutes left. However, CU managed to break free and touch down as the seconds expired from the clock.
Lastly, the Mavericks took on the Colorado School of Mines Orediggers on Oct. 2. The Mavericks suffered a couple of defensive lapses and mental errors during the match. They lost 66-29 despite a late CMU scoring resurgence during the second half.
The women’s rugby team’s next match will be here in Grand Junction on the CMU Rugby Pitch when another Division I opponent, Colorado State University, comes to town on Oct. 23.