Anyone who believes that women’s sports are tame or subdued compared to men’s sports has clearly never been to a women’s rugby game. On Saturday, Nov. 10, Guilford and Wake Forest engaged in bloody battle, repeatedly tackling each other and wrestling for the ball on the ground, until one team emerged victorious: The Quakers.Despite the irony of their name, the Quakers showed Wake Forest no mercy, defeating them 39-0 in their first win of the season.

Rugby is similar to football, in that you score points by grounding the ball in the opposing team’s end zone, which is called a ‘try’, or by kicking a goal through the uprights.

“Wake Forrest was a little lackluster, so we crushed them,” said Imeh Ntuen.

Ntuen received a pass from first-year Molly Spadone early in the game, and was able to power through Wake Forest’s defensive line to score a try. Later, she managed to break through the line again and score another try.

Team captain Beth Belle-Isle, scored an admirable try. She was tackled to the ground outside the Wake Forest goal line and just her arm was able to break the line and ground the ball for the score.

Sophomore Maya Oliver, first-year Pauravi Shippen-Howe and first-year Julia Cibulka each scored trys for Guilford as well. Late in the game, sophomore Shelly Fanguy kicked a goal through the uprights.

“The passing was beautiful,” Belle-Isle said. “We moved the ball down the back line. Everyone was in support of each other, everything looked really great.”

Tackling is permitted in rugby, but unlike in football, rugby players do not wear any protective padding. The game is also not stopped after every play and though you cannot pass the ball forward, you can punt it forward and pass backwards or to the side as much as you want. This makes for a much more fast-paced, intense and often brutal game that is a lot of fun to watch.

“Rugby is the best sport to go out and see,” said first-year Claire Oosterhoudt, who came out to watch the match. “Even if you have no idea what’s going on, it’s just cool to see these girls going out and proving that they can play this hardcore sport.”

Not all share the enthusiasm for the potentially injurious sport.

By the middle of the game, a mother of a Wake Forest player who had come out to surprise her daughter at the game was crying into her cell phone to a friend. “I’m paying all this money for her to go to school and she’s out here getting tackled and beaten! She said it was like soccer! This is not soccer!”

Rugby may be rough and pitiless during the game, but when the final whistle blows, rugby players forget about the game and enjoy getting to know the other team at the rugby social. The rugby social is a party hosted by the home team that takes place after the game. Drinking, singing, and running around naked if you scored a try are common activities that the team has been known to partake in at a social.

“Basically, the social is just a way to relax and have fun with your team after playing a hard game,” said first-year Bobbie Sonner.

If you missed Saturday’s game, you have one more chance to see the women’s rugby team play this season. The Quakers will face off against UNC Greensboro next weekend, at Guilford.

“Women’s rugby breaks traditional gender roles,” said first-year men’s rugby player David McKindley-Ward. “It’s not what you usually associate with women, so it’s an awesome image.