WPL Rugby Preview of Matches – 9/13 & 9/14/14

The Women’s Premier League (WPL) kicks off tomorrow and will celebrate its sixth season. As in the past, the league is made up of the top eight women’s rugby teams in the United States. The league is split into two conferences, Red and Blue:

RED Conference

The current National Champions, Twin City Amazons kick of their campaign hosting the 5th ranked Atlanta Harlequins. The Atlanta Harlequins are looking to improve again this year and have an extra incentive as they will host the 2014 WPL Championships on November 9, 2014.

The 7th ranked DC Furies will face 8th place New York as well this weekend. Both teams have been prepping for the opening match, the Furies hosted a skills clinic with guest coaches Farrah Douglas, Nancy Fitz, and Krista McFarren while New York Rugby Club celebrated their 85th Anniversary in style. This isn’t meant to say that NY has been only partying but that their strong tradition is something they will look to continue to build on.

BLUE Conference

In the Blue Conference the 3rd ranked Glendale Raptors host the 6th ranked San Diego Surfers. Glendale prepped for their match by playing a friendly against Black Ice last week, where it was hit & miss but nonetheless a victory. The Surfers are coming off winning the 2014 Club 7s National Championships and are looking to improve on their WPL season from last year.

ORSU has rejoined the WPL after a small hiatus (2013 USA Rugby Women’s National Club Champions) and will open their 2014 season facing the 2nd ranked Berkeley All Blues. ORSU recently celebrated their 20th anniversary (their men are celebrating their 40th) with an annoucement that they are expanding their current 7-acre property, the Fuller Farm. The All Blues are itching to return to the National Championship again this year as they were the 2012 National Champions and would love to have that title back.

All matches will be recorded and uploaded to the USA Rugby Youtube Channel for viewing. All teams have a WPL reporter so also be on the lookout for those match reports on Mondays as usual we will include the videos as they get uploaded by the teams.

Get more information about the WPL season includes the full schedule, results, WPL Reporters and more here.