‘We’re playing the most exciting rugby we ever have’
Photo by Paul Voll.
If you didn’t know, Vikes Women’s Rugby is currently in beast-mode.
Their quick start to the 2024 season — an opening win over rival UBC, followed by back-to-back blowouts against Lethbridge and Calgary — is continuing their momentum after last year’s runner-up finish at the national U Sports championships. But the program’s recent ascent to success has been building for much longer.
Brittany Waters, now in her tenth season as head coach for Vikes women’s rugby, said the program began prioritizing team culture three seasons ago, and the change is showing dividends on and off the pitch.
Like most modern-day teams or organizations, Vikes women’s rugby has a list of values: connection, dedication, respect, passion, and trust. But fostering culture within a group, regardless of the buzz words painted on a locker room wall, begins with relationships, said Waters.
“Time spent together, enjoying each other as people, more than just athletes, has been really important,” said Waters.
The program has allocated more funding toward team events and meals in recent years, with the goal of fostering those relationships and trust between Vikes players and staff.
Waters — a Vikes rugby player herself, earning U Sports All-Canadian honors in 2005 — is also impressed with the way veteran Vikes players take care of the rookies on the team.
“That’s definitely a shift from when I was a rookie here. There was a hierarchy, and you had to make your way up. [It was] more fear based, and that’s something we’ve eradicated. I want everyone to feel safe and supported . . . that’s how we’re going to be the best version of ourselves.”
Vikes rookie wing Maya Addai said she didn’t know what to expect after transferring from Carleton University to play her fifth and final collegiate season at UVic this fall. But Addai said the Vikes’ rookie-vet system made her feel supported in the transition.
“Even if you’re shy or nervous [about asking a question], there is someone on this team who always has an answer,” said Addai
While Addai is technically a Vikes rookie, she is also part of an injection of high-end skill that was added to this season’s roster. Addai, along with Vanessa Chiappetta and Angie Olukunmi, transferred to UVic to play for the Vikes this season after training in the summer with the Maple Leaf Academy — a development program for the national senior women’s team.
The Academy is located at the Rugby Canada headquarters in Langford, which has helped UVic draw high-end recruits in recent years, said Waters.
Part of the attraction for players like Addai, Chiappetta, Olukunmi, and Team Canada Rugby 7s silver medalist Carissa Norsten, is that they can take part in national development training in Langford while still playing for the Vikes and attending UVic.
Photo by Paul Voll.
For Vikes fans, though, the bonus is getting to watch elite rugby players — with national team and Olympics aspirations (even Olympic experience) — play up close and personal for their school.
The caveat of the Vikes carrying players affiliated with Rugby Canada is that sometimes, the athletes are withheld from being released for Vikes games. This was the case for the four players previously mentioned, who were taking part in a national camp when the Vikes hosted Lethbridge on Sept. 12.
But Waters sees these instances as important opportunities to give other players a chance to play.
“Creating depth and making sure that a lot of players are ready to go has been our MO for a long time,” said Waters.
An example of Waters’ case in point came last season when, due to an injury, fly half Hadley MacPherson — who’d only started one game of Vikes’ regular season play — was flown out to join the Vikes in Quebec City for nationals. MacPherson then started in the all-important gold medal match versus Laval.
Four Vikes players made their debut in the win against Lethbridge on Sept. 12. All seven try-scorers for the Vikes recorded their first tries of the season, including freshman Ivy Poetker, who scored not one but two — resulting in a raucous eruption of cheers from the Vikes players’ sideline.
The lopsided win against Lethbridge, with many of the Vikes’ most experienced players not playing, shows the depth of skill this team currently has throughout their roster.
“We’re playing the most exciting rugby we ever have,” said Waters, who acknowledged the team’s sights are set, once again, on a national championship.
The Vikes have outscored their opponents 131–36 through three matches.
Looking ahead, fourth year prop Soleil Brooks said she expects a physical match up in the Vikes’ next home game versus Calgary on Sept. 29.
“Alberta teams are always tough . . . similar to a lot of the teams out east, just a different style of rugby, so it tests our skills a little bit,” said Brooks. “It’s hard physically when they’re punching up the middle and just want to smash rather than play it out wide. It’s a different stylistic matchup.”
While some teams rely on what Brooks refers to as “rugby by erosion” — a physical strategy of offensive play that aims to wear opponents down by initiating contact — she says that the Vikes’ brand of rugby leans more toward speed and creativity.
Because the Vikes’ forward group, which is typically the bigger players on a rugby team, is so mobile, it allows the team to play a kicking style of game, which focuses on moving the ball down the field quickly through the air and relying on their speed to retrieve it.
“It was something that really helped us last year,” said Brooks. “We’re a very defensive-focused team, so if we can put pressure on [the other team] and get the ball back through defense, I think that’s something that we really value.”
With only one more opportunity to see the Vikes play at Wallace Field before they leave for the Canada West Championships in Calgary and nationals in Charlottetown, PEI, Brooks said any support from UVic students at their games “means the world” to them.
“It’s been a big year for women’s sports in general, and I just think the more we support women’s sports the better.”
The Vikes women’s rugby team’s next game is on Sunday, Sept. 29 at 1:00 p.m. Tickets can be found on the Vikes website.
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