Carleton Ravens women’s rugby crushed the McGill Martlets in a 90-5 record-breaking win Saturday, setting new benchmarks for most points scored in a single game and the largest margin of victory in team history.
Scrum half and co-captain Roberta Drummond also tied a team record with eight conversions in a single game, matching a record set by current assistant coach Jessica Joubarn.
The team chose to wear orange tape during the game in recognition of the upcoming National Day of Truth and Reconciliation on Sept. 30. The team also took a knee during ‘O Canada’ out of respect for Indigenous communities and residential school survivors.
The Ravens started out the game strong with the first try scored by fly half Vanessa Chiappetta just minutes into the first half. The team used strong passing and exceptional ball handling to run plays down the outside of the pitch, resulting in several successful tries.
By the end of the first half, Carleton led 43-0.
This was the second time in two weeks the Ravens faced the Martlets, as Carleton won 75-0 last time out. Head coach David Luong said the goal going into the game was to work on some of the team’s techniques.
“It was playing with a bit more discipline, trying to attack with a bit of pace, and then using all our skills,” Luong said.
Drummond said tough officiating in the first half originally knocked the team down but improvements from last weekend made up the difference.
“At halftime, we regrouped and we came out fighting and it felt really, really good,” Drummond said. “It was much cleaner than last week and we stuck to our game plan much more.”
After running into some penalty trouble early in the game, Drummond said the team will take what they learned to their game against Bishop’s University next Sunday.
“We’ll have some stiffer competition next weekend against Bishop, so [we will be] taking what the referee was nitpicking today and making sure we don’t have to repeat the same mistakes,” Drummond said.
Luong said the team will take a day to relax and celebrate before returning to the pitch.
“We’re happy with what we did today and the players can celebrate and relax tomorrow, but come Monday, we’re back to work,” Luong said. “It’s 0-0 at the beginning of each game, anyway. That’s how we have to look at it.”
Featured image by Anya Swettenham.
