Philadelphia Women and Friends debut Arena Rugby at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia

The Philadelphia Women’s Rugby Football Club (PWRFC) partnered with standout college players from the Philadelphia city colleges to play an exhibition match in the Wachovia Center on Saturday, Feb 20th.

PWRFC has been fundraising partners with the Philadelphia Wings, a professional indoor lacrosse team, and the opportunity grew from that partnership. This modified version of 7-a-side rugby, monikered “Arena Rugby”, proved to be fast, physical, exciting, and explosive. To add interest to the event, PWRFC invited to top city college players to join them in a blue/maroon game prior to the Wings regular game.

The 10 minute, single period game kicked off at 6:10 PM. Various safetly challenges presented themselves, first and foremost, playing in a hockey rink. While there was a padded turf covering over the rink, the boards and glass surrounding the rink make for some safety issues. Through discussions with the referee, it was decided that the following rule changes would be in place:

Checking or pushing a player into the boards would replace tackling a player out of bounds – essentially, when a ball carrier touched the wall surrounding the rink, they were ‘in touch’ and a turnover was awarded to the non-offending team.

Any attempt to actually tackle a player into the boards would be considered a dangerous tackle, and any player doing so would be dealt with harshly, ie, sent to the penalty box for a pre-determined period of time, or ejected, depending on severity.

3 person, 7’s style scrums would be used.

All offenses other than forward passes and knock ons, to include “in touch” would result in a free kick to the non-offending team.

Professional lacrosse fans loved the action and were eager to learn about rugby. While the crowd was thin given the early start, line breaks and tackles were met with cheers from the crowd, and both the players and the spectators enjoyed themselves. The short, intense format combined some of the best aspects of 7s and 15s, and who knows … maybe there will be a future for indoor rugby!

Players:

Andrea Anastaski – University of Pennslyvania
Rachel Bandura – Temple University
Hannah Bennet – Drexel University
Chey Coates – Philly Women
Kate Hallinan – Philly Women
Suzanne Igoe Philly Women
Maria Muscara – Lasalle University
Kerstin Nordstrom – Philly Women
Emily Record – Philly Women
Lauren Reiter – Drexel University
Moira Sommerdyk – Temple University
Julia Walsh – Lasalle University
Sheara Williamson – Philly Women
Katie Wojtal – Philly Women
Jessica Yue – Philly Women

Philadelphia Women’s Rugby Football Club (PWRFC) was founded in 1976, making it the most established women’s rugby club in the Philadelphia area. For more information about the PWRFC, visit our website,www.pwrfc.org