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Individual talent has given the New Mexico women’s rugby team a chance at glory.
The team is headed to Palo Alto, Calif., this weekend for the first round of the 2012-13 Emirates Airlines USA Rugby National Championships.
“We give a lot of our success to our individual skilled girls,” sophomore fly-half Emma McCaslin said. “We have a lot of girls that are athletic and just really talented.”
The team, which finished its regular season with a 5-1 record, will face Stanford in the first round of the 16-team tournament. UNM’s lone loss came against BYU. The Cougar women went undefeated on the season and earned an automatic bid to the national championship tournament.
New Mexico received an at-large bid into the tournament by winning the championship tournament for the West Division of the Pacific Mountain Conference. UNM defeated Arizona State 78-5 in the semifinal round. The championship game saw the Lobos rally against UCLA, winning 32-31. The division tournament was held March 23 and 24 on the UNM practice soccer fields.
According to McCaslin, the Lobos have relied on their strong defense to get them this far; to win in the tournament the team will need to improve on offense, she said.
“We need to capitalize on all of our offensive attacks,” she said. “Sometimes we’ll be at the try line and we’ll make one mistake that will keep us from finishing.”
The Lobos’ first-round opponent is a well-established program that has had success in the past, including a runner-up finish in last year’s national championship. Stanford’s head coach Matt Sherman has served as an assistant coach on the USA National Team. Despite this, McCaslin doesn’t think the Cardinal is above the Lobos’ level.
“We come in knowing we’re the underdogs, but watching them play we know that we can beat them — we know we have the talent to beat them,” she said. “Between us and the top three teams I see a big difference, but between us and Stanford I don’t see that much of a difference.”
McCaslin said preparation for the game against Stanford has been the same as that for any of the previous games this season.
“We practice three times a week,” she said. “(Head Coach) Shannon (Robinson) sends us tapes of our games so we can watch ourselves. Usually I’ll research our next opponent and try to watch them. I’ve already watched a game of Stanford’s.”
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Stanford will play on its home field throughout the championships, as the team is one of four regional hosts for the national tournament and the host of the semifinal and final rounds. Despite this, the Cardinal may not have home-field advantage.
“Their field is engineered to perfection,” McCaslin said. “I can’t wait to play on this field. Getting tackled on this field still won’t feel great, but it’ll feel nice landing. That’s what I’m excited about.”
If the Lobos defeat Stanford on Saturday, they will advance to the quarterfinal round on Sunday. Waiting for the team will be the winner of Saturday’s second game, Texas A&M vs. California.
