November 1 - Grand Valley State University

Pictures and more blog to come later! I promise!

Our game against GVSU this weekend was our deciding match for our shot at Nationals. Our second home game, but alas, we lost. GVSU won this match 44 to 29. Congratulations to them. It was a good match.

GVSU is a team on the verge of going varsity (if they're not already). They had two full teams, and were able to play a 20 minute B-side match with entirely fresh legs.

Because of their varsity status, they are unable to socialize as we normally do, so we opted for a pizza/singing party on the side of the pitch. It was still a lot of fun, regardless of the change of normal location. Also due to their varsity status, they can't sing anything about beer, so they cleverly replaced it with "juice". But...it just doesn't sound the same. GVSU had to leave early to take the five hour drive home in order to get home at a decent time.

Thanks for all your support!

Statistics
Date: 11-1-2008
Final Score: 29 (us) to 44
Score by Halftime: 10 (us) to 17
Minutes per Half: 40

Trys:
Scooby - 1
Shoddy - 2
Elvy - 1
Wheels - 1

Conversion Kicks:
Scooby - Attempted: 5 Successful: 2

GVSU: 7 trys, 3 conversions, + 1 field goal

Our first defeat. Record 8-1. We moved up to 10th nationally. We shall see what ranking we have now. Stay posted.

Thank you to Elwood and Fisher for filming for me!
To all those who came to support us!

Next Saturday: Off to Little Rock, AR, for the Ozark tournament, which we will DOMINATE both on the field and off!!

Three cheers for GVSU!
hip hip HOORAY! hip hip HOORAY! hip hip HOORAY!
Three cheers for the sir!
hip hip HOORAY! hip hip HOORAY! hip hip HOORAY!
THREE CHEERS FOR U OF I!!
HIP HIP HOORAY!! HIP HIP HOORAY!! HIP HIP HOORAY!!

October 18 - Michigan State University

Our game against MSU this weekend was our second pool play for the Fall 08 season. This was the first real home game of the year and it was a success! We won this match 38 to 10. Having won both our pool play games, we will be hosting the Elite 8 Tournament here at U of I.

MSU drove for a long time and arrived early that morning with only 15 girls in tow. Word has it that because they had just become a serious team (and less of a club) they lost a lot of girls and the coach was rebuilding the team. Even though they were
short on girls, they were kind enough to grace us with a B-side 25 minute half with the girls they could offer. We wound up donating four of our own players to them in order to make the B-side match happen.

The House kindly hosted the social. Fun was had by all! Parents were even seen taking active part in the fun. The MSU team was fun, but unfortunately they had to leave early in order to drive back home.

Statistics
Date: 10-18-2008
Final Score: 38 (us) to 10
Score by Halftime: 12 (us) to 5
Minutes per Half: 40

Trys:
Janelle - 1
Wheels - 1
Crack - 2
Lipa - 2

Conversion Kicks:
Fish - Attempted: 6 Successful: 4

MSU: 2 trys, 0 conversions.

Currently undefeated. Record 8-0. Ranked 14th still.

Thank you to d-d-d-d-d-d-Dingo for filming for me!
To all those who came to support us!

This week is Rookie Week! Stay posted for updates, I'm going to try to blog for every day so all our loyal fans have something to read.

Next Saturday, October 25 was supposed to be a match against EIU at Charleston, IL. We have withdrawn from this match in preparation for the Elite 8 tournament the following weekend.

NEXT NEXT SATURDAY NOVEMBER 1: ELITE 8 TOURNAMENT @ HOME! COME OUT AND CHEER FOR YOUR ILLINOIS WOMEN'S RUGBY TEAM AS THEY TAKE ON GRAND VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY!

Three cheers for MSU!
hip hip HOORAY! hip hip HOORAY! hip hip HOORAY!
Three cheers for the sir!
hip hip HOORAY! hip hip HOORAY! hip hip HOORAY!
Three cheers for U OF I!!
HIP HIP HOORAY!! HIP HIP HOORAY!! HIP HIP HOORAY!!

October 10 - Purdue

After 2 weekends of no games, we finally had one again! Last week was a free weekend with no scheduled games, and the week before the Marquette didn't attend.

We traveled to Lafayette, IN, for a game against Purdue. We walked in with a mindset that we were going to win, and we walked out with that goal fulfilled. We won the match 48-26, dominating the majority of the game. We even out-hyped them in their own parking lot, according to Schmarra (the Purdue out-center).

I believe this was our first full 80-minute game of the season. The weather was nice, but it got a little hot towards the end of the game. We were supposed to have a B-side half match as well, but we were unable to because the game started late and the Purdue boys had to take the field right after our game. Apologies to all the girls that did not get to play because of this! Also, we were supposed to have a social, but the day the game landed on was part of their October break, and no one was at their house. But they kindly brought us pizza which everyone devoured.

Statistics
Date: 10-10-2008
Final Score: 48 (us) to 26
Score by Halftime: 28 (us) to 7
Minutes per Half: 40

Trys:
Asia - 2
Elvy - 2
Shoddy - 2
Lipa - 1
Wheels - 1

Conversion Kicks:
Fish Attempted: 8 Successful: 4

Purdue: 4 trys, 3 conversions.

Currently undefeated, ranked 14th.

Thank you to Tonka and Panda for filming and taking statistics for me!
To all those who came who unfortunately did not get to play, thank you for coming! Your support (and you water-bringing skills!) really helped us.

Next Week is Rookie Week!

NEXT SATURDAY OCTOBER 18: MICHIGAN STATE @ HOME! COME OUT AND CHEER FOR YOUR ILLINOIS WOMEN'S RUGBY TEAM!

September 27 - Marquette

This weekend was supposed to be a home game against Marquette, but due to unforeseen circumstances, they were unable to attend the game. So, to keep ourselves active, we had a Saturday morning practice.

There was a church organized mini-Olympics enthusiastically going on nearby; they did a pseudo-Haka that we cheered for.

Next weekend we have a free weekend with no scheduled games. Many are going home, and those who are staying should be helping with our new philanthropy.

The weekend after that we face Purdue for our first pool play game!

September 20 - Sabres

This week we went down to St. Louis to face the Sabres, a women's club team based in St. Louis. They faced Mizzou right before us which push our game until 3pm. It was the first (technically second) game of the season for them. We won this game, too. The final score was 19 to 12. Because of our victory over the Sabres, our rank jumped up to 14th.

September 13 - ISU

Our first home game of the season was against our neighbors, Illinois State University. We were also supposed to face University of Illinois Chicago, but they did not show. We won this game, 38 to 14.

More to come later!

RUGGAPALOOZA

Our first game of the season! The tournament went very well.

Our first match was against Northern Illinois University at 9:30am. We won 43 to nothing! They were 20 minute halves. The people who scored were Shoddy (twice), Crack, Lipa, Fish, Beth, and Bruce. Fish and Shoddy kicked the conversions for us.

Game Two was against Indiana University's B-side at 1:00pm. Again we won, this time 67 to nothing; 32 to nothing by halftime. They were 20 minute halves again. The people who scored this game were Lipa, Asia, Elvy (twice), Janelle, Dana (rookie!), Crack, Wheels, Olivia (twice), and Sota. Fish kicked four conversions for us.

Game Three was against the hosts of the tournament, Southern Illinois University at 3:25pm. The final score was 36 us, to nothing. They were 20 minute halves. Crack, Sota, and Shoddy all scored once, and Olivia and Elvy scored twice. Fish again made the conversion kicks for us.

Game Four was the final game for the title of Champions of Ruggapalooza. We were up against Indiana University at 5:20pm. They were 20 minute halves again. By halftime, they were winning 7 to 10. By the end of the game, it had become an intense and somewhat emotional game. Rivalries were blazing, and we came back and won the championship game 13 to 10.

For our success we recieved a trophy with a gnome on the top of it that Shoddy has so lovingly dubbed as "Bartelby". After the tournament we were ranked 16th in the country by USA Rugby! Between games, much fun was had by all, with singing of Disney songs and crowd surfing our scrumhalf.

Bon Voyage, IWRC

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The Illinois Women's Rugby Spring Break Tour '08 commences tomorrow. Wish us luck down south!

Mud fight breaks out into a rugby scrimmage

The University of Illinois women's rugby team faced off against the University of Illinois women's rugby team this past Sunday. I can't remember the score, but I'm pretty certain Illinois won the match. Our horde of rookies (nearly as many as vets) seemed happy to finally understand what we had been yelling at them for a month and a half. The vets seemed happy to throw mud at their coaches and captain. And everybody seemed happy to play rugby without getting little black rubber pebbles in our shoes. We'll still be in Irwin until after break, but this taste of rugby outdoors will hopefully keep us going until then. Tune in next week as your favorite collegiate mud wrestling/rugby team faces off against the St. Louis Sabres for our first game of the season.

A new year, a new season

The 2008 season started with our first practice on Tuesday. After a long hiatus, we are glad to be back together and doing what we love most. We've had a few rookies stop by, and we're hoping more will come as we spread the word about the IWRC. Keep an eye out for our flyers and business cards.

And of course, our posters:


We will also be at Activity Day on Tuesday, January 22 from 11 AM-3 PM in the Illini Union. Come by our booth to chat with some real live rugby girls!

To conclude, here are some pictures from tonight's practice:

Arkansas Pictures

We just heard about a gallery of professional pictures taken at the Ozark tournament in November. Check out our team having a blast in Arkansas!

First Post

Recognizing that our website needed a news section for our Rugby Moms and Dads, nostalgic Old Girls, and everyone else who wants to know what we've been up to, we have created this blog about our team. I hope you all enjoy reading about your favorite college rugby team!

For the first post we have some of the best pictures from the Fall 2007 season.