READY FOR REAL RUGBY
After a cancelled 2020 season, AUS rugby returns Saturday
Forget intrasquad games. Hannah Ellis would much rather tackle her Atlantic university rugby opponents than her teammates.
After a 2020 season scrapped because of the COVID-19 pandemic, AUS rugby returns to action for real on Saturday.
“It’s exciting to be back on the pitch and to be playing real games now,” said Ellis, the St. Francis Xavier X-women’s fifth-year fly-half and team captain from Halifax.
“We were able to play intrasquad games last season. But, honestly, there’s nothing like being back in the AUS and in actual competition.”
The cancellation of last year’s fall sports in the AUS prevented the four conference’s rugby squads – St. F.X., Acadia, Saint Mary’s and UPEI — from competing against each other.
But when the limit of athletes allowed to participate without social distancing increased from 10 to 50 last October, the Atlantic conference teams turned to intrasquad games, including the Xwomen who, for four weeks, played Friday nights on the turf at St. F.X. Stadium.
Without regular-season play, it was a reasonable facsimile.
But ain’t nothing like the real thing.
“The uncertainty of it was just crazy. We all just wanted to play,” Ellis recalled. “Intrasquad games aren’t just the same. It was so hard to stay in it. We did a really good job and things eventually did open up.
“We were lucky in Nova Scotia. Other provinces weren’t as fortunate. We had a little bit of playing time and now we get to play for good.”
University athletics weren’t spared when the pandemic halted the sports world in March 2020.
Gyms and facilities were shuttered. Students were sent home to attend classes on Zoom. Weeks without sports turned into months and eventually, a lost 2020-21 season.
“It took a lot of mental toughness and resilience,” Ellis said of coping with the lost year, “especially when there wasn’t any competition and not knowing what the future held or when we would actually play again.
“Some have fallen off the wagon and moved on. But I think we did a good job of staying in a good mindset, knowing that we would be back on the pitch eventually.
“It was definitely tough. There were times when we were questioning it. Why are we still doing this? When is this coming to an end? But we really supported each other through the tough times. We’re all very happy to be back on the pitch for real.”
Ellis graduated last spring with a degree in human kinetics and will enter the School of Nursing in January. She wouldn’t have returned to the St. F.X. pitch if AUS competition didn’t return.
“If there wasn’t going to be a season I probably wouldn’t have played,” she said. “I’m definitely glad I’m back for the fall.”
Ellis’s experience and leadership will be indispensable this season. About 35 players on the St. F.X. roster haven’t played in an AUS game.
Despite the inexperience, Ellis said the rookies bring an infusion of enthusiasm and talent to the program as it seeks its fifth consecutive conference banner.
“We have a really good crop of first years,” Ellis said. “Everyone is so eager to learn. There’s so much skill and athleticism. A lot of girls haven’t had a lot of playing time because of COVID and their high school years were taken away from them. But everyone seems to be ready to learn and absorb everything.
“The energy on our team has been amazing. I have never seen such a positive environment out of my five years here. This is the best culture we’ve had in my five years. It’s awesome to see.”
The X-women, who haven’t lost to an AUS opponent in nearly six years since dropping the 2015 conference championship final to Acadia, will open on the road Saturday at UPEI.
Saint Mary’s visits Wolfville to face the Axewomen in the other rugby opener.
Both games have a 2 p.m. start.