Eugene made it to the 2010 Pacific Northwest Rugby Football Union (PNRFU) Playoffs. I was pumped! However, I was not pumped about having to drive the 3.5 hours to Lacey, WA for the second time this month. Budd Bay was ranked number one so they got home field advantage. I was hoping that PNRFU would cut the league some slack and at least have the playoffs in Portland, but no. We were the 3rd ranked so we were scheduled to play Budd Bay and 2nd ranked Portland was to play the Sacramento Amazons. The winners of the two matches would play to see who would go to Nationals.
Budd Bay is a tough team. They may be too good for DII, but got their butts handed to them when they tried to move up to DI. They are now back in DII and stomping on everyone. They went a whole regular season without anyone scoring on them. The week before our regular season match against them, our captain turns to me and says, “They have girls our size, but they are super fit.” Awesome. The day of the game many of my teammates commented on their size. However, I did not see anyone who matched my height or girth. To tell you the truth, I haven’t really seen anyone out here who is as Amazonian as I. Not even the Samoans of the Sacramento Amazons. Sure there are ladies who are thicker than I and there are some who are taller than I, but none as tall and as thick. Must be that Midwest upbringing.
The Bandits did conquer us in the regular season a lot of points to none. It wasn’t their athleticism or knowledge of the game that prevailed. It was simply the fact that they are more cohesive. I believe with time, Eugene could be a strong unit if not stronger. We certainly did rattle their cages a bit. In the regular season game they began to play dirty and lose their heads. It was a bit satisfying to see that we could break them down in that manner. I was confident we would give them a run for their money when we saw them again.
During the regular season game there was a moment where I believed we could have scored against the Bandits. I had taken the ball off of a ruck in the 22 and had my Inside Center, Kata, with me to my right. I ignored my training of “Forwards Never Pass. Just Run Forward” and passed the ball out to Kata. I had no forward support to ruck over me, so it was the smartest option. Apparently that is where my intelligence ended. Had I been paying attention I would have noticed that the outside wing was too far forward to receive a legal pass from Kata. I should have looped around to get to the outside. This would have ultimately ended in either me scoring or passing back inside to Kata once I drew the defenders in. One of us would have scored. Sadly this was not the end result. Kata took the ball into contact and I was not there soon enough to help secure the ball. Budd Bay then kicked it out of their 22.
For two weeks I thought about that play, and knew Kata and I would score against Budd Bay in the Playoffs. I knew we wouldn’t beat the Bandits, but I wanted Eugene to be the ones to score on them. I was going to make it happen.
There were 4 scoring opportunities in the playoff game against Budd Bay. I’ll be honest, I don’t remember the first. The second was with our Flanker Carey. Once again in the 22, she took the ball in I believe a pick and go..maybe not. (I’m notorious for not knowing details.) She ran hard for the try zone and was so close to scoring. Had she ran in lower, I have no doubt she would have put points on the board. However, the defenders at the line held her up in a maul. The ball was recovered by Budd Bay and kicked out.
The last two opportunities I remember more vividly as I was involved.
Eugene had spent a good portion of time in Budd Bay’s half of the field. We were driving and rucking hard against the opposition. We dominated the scrums pushing the Bandits off the ball when it was their put and holding them off when it was ours.
Amber had taken the ball into contact and went down. Gabby, our scrum half for the first time ever in her life, had difficulties getting the ball out of the ruck. I saw the ball come loose and ran for it before the Bandits could react. I grabbed it and ran hard for the try zone. I dove across the line to touch the ball down, but it came loose when I slammed it to the ground and moved forward. It came to the hands of the outside wing, Haley who touched it down again. The sir called it a forward pass. I would have argued that it was a try, but would really have to sell the part where I had control.
I was so close. I tasted the small victory and let it escape. I wasn’t going to let it happen again.
Eugene began to push hard against Budd Bay. Much like the regular season, we broke them down. They were making silly mistakes and playing dirty out of frustration. We found ourselves in their half again driving toward the try zone. I was on the weak side of a ruck with only two defenders in front of me. I then saw Kata with me. I turned to her and said, “Kata, follow me.” She nodded. The visions I had for two weeks about she and I scoring flashed in my mind again. I was going to make it a reality.
I began to yell at Gabby as she dug the ball from under a ruck, “GABBY LEFT! I WANT THE BALL GABBY! GABBY! GIVE ME THE BALL LEFT!” I saw Gabby place one hand on the ball and I ran forward and called for her to pass me the ball. She fumbled with the ball a little, but was able to send it out to me. I drew the defenders to me and went in low. Instead of going to ground I stayed up with my shoulders low and drove the meters toward the line. I wrapped my left arm around one defender’s thighs as I drove hard with my shoulders. With my right arm I placed the ball on my hip as I pushed the defenders back farther. Kata took the ball from me, ran left and dove into the in-goal. She had scored. I gave a cry of triumph and jubilation as I ran over to her for a hug! The rest of my teammates then joined in on the celebration. We ran back to midfield giving high fives along the way and then turned to watch Amber convert. It felt as if we had won the World Cup.
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| Ruggers in a Pumpkin Patch |
Although we did not advance in the playoffs, we did reach the goals we had set as a team. In the first match with Budd Bay they had scored against us 4 times in the first 10 minutes. During the playoff match, they didn’t score until 20 minutes into the first half. We dominated in the scrums and we spent a good deal of time in their half of the field. We were also the first to score against Budd Bay and the only ones in our division to do so. The Amazons did pull off a lucky try in the championship match against Budd Bay. However, the Bandits admitted that we were the only ones who worked hard for a try.
Later at the social we did our Woman of the Match pow-wow. I had several ladies in my mind for the honor. Carey worked hard all match long doing successful pick and go’s while running over the Bandits. Jessamy seemed to be in every ruck and blasting the opponents off the ball. Haley had really stepped up as a rookie being in the right spot at the right time. Had I not been selfish wanting to score for myself, I could have easily passed it off to her. Kata would have also been a no brainer choice as she supported my drive to score against Budd Bay. I was very proud of our team.
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| Woman of the Match Tiki |
Two months earlier I was debating on whether or not to hang up my boots and retire. Luckily I went down to Eugene to watch a match and knew I couldn’t give up the game yet. I had every reason to retire, but the love of the game is too overpowering. I had instant friends the moment I joined the team and it has made my move to Oregon so much easier.
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