A tough season last year has carried over into this one with losses to both St. Lawrence College and the Fleming Knights Sept. 11.
After playing in a close game against SLC where they lost 31-17, the Thunder women’s ggby team seemed to lack intensity to start the game.
Within the first three minutes, Fleming had racked up two trys and a conversion to lead Algonquin 12-0. A lone try and a three-point conversion by Emily Spence in the second half was the Thunder’s only scores of the day.
Alize Spalding-Lawrence from the Knights put up five trys to lead their team to a 43-8 win.
Dan Gauthier, head coach of the women’s rugby team, blamed the team’s lack of defense and intensity for their loss.
“It’s hard to win a game when you don’t want to commit to defence,” said Gauthier. “Defence is a necessity in sports, and this one in particular.”
But he knows defensive struggles plague young teams. “Consistent application of our core skills will allow us to win games,” he further explained.
Luckily, team morale is still high and the players believe they will bounce back next week against the Loyalist Lancers.
One player in particular, Dana Dore, feels the team will come back twice as strong.
“We practice everyday, and our intensity is going to get better and better, and we are just going to continue to try and win,” said Dore.
The only way to improve, is to know what you are lacking, and second-year veteran Daniella Ellis knows where to start.
“We need more communication on defence, and in our scrums,” she explained. “There was times where all of us were on one side when we should have spread it out more.”
The women’s rugby team played their third game of the season on Sunday, Sept. 25 at home versus the Lancers.