Smith Rugby won the New England Wide Collegiate Rugby Conference (NEWCRC) championships for the second year in a row on Nov. 4. Throughout the fall season, Smith Rugby fought hard and held their own against the 20 other teams in the NEWCRC to qualify for the conference championship. On the day of the championship, dressed head to toe in their signature red and black uniforms, Smith defeated Yale 24 to 17 in a close game to win the title.
Smith competes in the Small College division against other historically women’s colleges (HWC) including Wellesley College, Mount Holyoke College and other small liberal arts colleges in the area such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Connecticut College and Williams College. Among HWC competitors specifically, Smith proved themselves a worthy opponent this season, besting Mount Holyoke 72-0 on Sept. 23 and Wellesley 63-0 on Oct. 22.
Despite their success, the team maintained their policy of accepting all interested players, regardless of their experience level. President Anna Gunning ’25 spoke on the importance of this policy to the values of the team. They said, “Rugby is a unique club sport in the sense that it fills a niche between recreational and competitive sports at Smith. We want that opportunity to be competitive to remain accessible to people, regardless of their experience.”
Also, unlike other club sports, rugby is not a commonly played sport before the collegiate level. Gunning said this makes the sport more accessible because “most of [the] players come in not having tried it before; it levels the playing field for anyone who might not have played a lot of sports in high school.”
In order to smoothly incorporate these new players, lovingly deemed “rookies”, onto the team, there’s a B-Side captain, who helps teach the rookies the fundamentals of the game and help them acclimate to the team structure. However, the team’s captains and leaders work hard to make sure the new players feel welcome. Gunning said, “We try to integrate rookies into the team with different team bonding activities, such as team dinner after practice and other special events.”
As for the future of the team, Gunning said, “while winning is always a goal, it’s not necessarily the goal. We like to work hard and to win but more important is maintaining a welcoming and inclusive club environment that is for everyone. It’s impossible to have a successful team without a healthy environment and I think we have been and are going to continue working towards making that environment the best it can be.”
Rugby’s inclusive atmosphere has been life-changing for Gunning. They said, “If you had told me a few years ago that I would be playing rugby in college, I would have laughed at you.” Gunning didn’t participate in team sports in high school because they didn’t see themselves as an athlete, but she said that rugby helped her realize her potential because of its focus on learning, growth and its celebration of body diversity. She said, “I think it draws people, like myself, who might have not felt like they always belonged in sport previously, which is why I think it’s especially important to make the team as open and encouraging to new players as possible.”
The team will have a short break from competing for the winter, but they will continue to strength train and practice their skills to prepare for the next competition season. The spring is technically the team’s “offseason” but they will continue to compete whenever possible in tournaments and scrimmages and will keep fans updated on the exact schedule on their social media.
Smith Rugby has over 1,000 followers on their team Instagram and many fans in the stands at every home game. The team has coined the phrase “Scrugby love” to celebrate their successes, which has become popular among other student fans. And with this season’s success in a team led by mostly rookies, there will be a lot more Scrugby love (and hopefully championship titles) in the future seasons ahead.
