Lindenwood Women’s Rugby Beats Old Belvedere to begin Ireland Tour
Photo: Lindenwoood University Women’s Rugby
Doug Coil
Lindenwood University Women’s Rugby Club left for their Spring rugby tour of Ireland on March 12th from St. Louis Lambert International Airport and after a stop at Newark Liberty International Airport they arrived in Dublin, Ireland on March 13.
The tour was organized by Irish Rugby Tours and featured two rugby matches against Old Belvedere Women’s RFC in Dublin on March 14th and against the Highfield Women’s RFC in Limerick on March 19th at 1pm local time. The Highfield RFC is part of the All Ireland top women’s D1 league.
Rugby is not the only part of the tour, as there is so much to experience culturally when visiting Ireland.
On March 14th the team toured downtown Dublin, Trinity College where they saw the Book of Kells, Croke Park, Aviva Stadium, and the IRFU locker room there. They also had a training session with Tony Smeeth, who spent time coaching in the national pathway for USA Rugby. Later that evening the team notched their first international win, a 65-5 win over Old Belvedere Women’s RFC.
Today the team will be traveling to Galway to experience more of Ireland. They will visit the Cliffs of Moher, which should be one of the highlights of the trip.
On Wednesday morning the team will have a training session with the Connacht Rugby coaching staff.
Forwards:Lexi Prusheik, Hannah Moran, Erika Larsen, Isabel Manu, Kendal McCracken, Tiffany Person, Nika Paogofie-Buyten, Laura Enk, Marisa Hall, Mireille Codjia, Amber Brevig, Tui Roberts, Lia Fetineiai Tauiliili, Ariana Lewis, Geraldine Vizarreta, AnneMarie Reed, Mary Healy and Avery MacGillivray.
Backs:Hannah Gauthreaux, Davon Thomas, Morgan Courtney, Natalie Kosko, Haylee Thull, Dana Olsen, Richelle Stephens, Annakaren Pedraza, Teresa Bueso and Imogen Davies.
Photo players of the match
Head Coach Billy Nicholas comments:
“This is an amazing experience for this group of women and our coaching staff here. The people have been so welcoming and we have seen some beautiful places. We are here to challenge ourselves in international rugby matches and training sessions and to also continue to grow our bond as a program as well”.
Lindenwood University Women’s Rugby Club is currently ranked second in the D1 Elite Women’s rugby rankings. They have a 13-1 record with their only loss to Penn State University.
When the teams returns from the Ireland tour. They will have a match on April 1 against the Glendale Raptors at 4pm at St. Charles, MO. That same weekend, part of the team will be playing at the St. Louis Ruggerfest. The tour and the match against the WPL Glendale Raptors, will help the team prepare for the USA Rugby Elite 15s playoffs April 22/23 at Stanford, CA.
The team will also be playing rugby sevens during the Spring. First on the agenda, is the National qualifier tournament, the Life University 7s Tournament on April 8-9 at Marietta, GA. The team will also play in the Olympic Training Center 7s Tournament at Chula Vista, CA on May 9-12.
Following these tournaments the team is preparing for the USA Rugby National 7s Championships May 19-21 in Denver, CO and then will play in the Penn Mutual Collegiate Rugby Championship June 2-5 at Talen Energy Stadium in Chester, PA.
