USA Tour 2024 | OURFC Women*s Section

Follow this page for daily updates from the September 2024 Women*s Tour to the USA, including matches against Harvard University, US Army Academy at West Point, and US Naval Academy.

day 1 - new york city

Lilla Berry

Start spreading the news, OURFC women* have touched down in New York and, buzzing with jet lag, set off bright and early this morning to embark on sightseeing adventures. Now before you begin to wonder what a sightseeing day has to do with our very important rugby games, fret not, as this was hardly a day of rest. 23,000 steps, one Central Park cycle ride and a panic run through the station later, we’d like to consider the outing our unofficial warm up. Indeed, the team managed to cram in pretty much every landmark humanly possible for just one day in the city. We saw Grand Central Station, which was “beautiful”, the Empire State Building, which was “underwhelming and rubbish up close”, the Rockefeller Centre, the Met, Times Square, Lady Liberty via Ferry, and even indulged in a traditional pastrami sandwich (to carb load before the big game!) Not to mention the evening we spent at Citi Field Stadium watching the Mets beat the Phillies in a thrilling game of glorified rounders. The highlight of this match was not the multiple home runs scored by our new favourite team, nor the rambunctious chants delivered by the local ultras (“Let’s go Mets”), but our 30 seconds of fame when we found ourselves cheering on the big screen. We like to think OURFC love to bring the energy wherever we go.

match report: blues v harvard

Lilla Berry

It’s game day and the team were up bright and early to prepare for the big match. We spent the morning stretching and running through moves in the Harvard locker room. We got our heads in the game and marched out onto the Crimson’s pitch. And what a match it was! Many tries were scored. By who? Not important. What matters is we delivered. Against America’s best university side we fought to the very end. They were a strong outfit but we didn’t let them break us. We made some huge hits in defence and got better at holding them back as the match went on. A reliable source even says that our scrums were looking “more dominant than theirs” throughout. Despite the defeat we all came out with our heads held high. Not too shabby for an amateur team playing against NCAA champions. Harvard nominated Player of the Match goes to Zed Nott for their hard hits and leadership in the scrum. Though menacing on the pitch, the Harvard girls were nothing but warm and welcoming afterwards. They treated us to a traditional American lunch replete with cornbread, BBQ meats, and Mac n Cheese in their clubhouse, performed a traditional song for us and gifted a few of their training shirts. After lunch their captain provided the Dark Blues with a tour of the Harvard campus. We appreciated their lovely red brick buildings, which we concluded were of a far nicer shade than the bricks at our own Keble College. Tomorrow is a well-deserved recovery day. We are all agreed that a nice lie-in is certainly in order.

day 2 - harvard & boston

Lilla Berry

It’s road trip time! Team breakfast at Nyack Hot Bagels provided the fuel needed for the three hour drive to our next stop (or four hours, for those of us who accidentally took a detour to Rhode Island, claiming that “the map took us that way”.) Today the squad migrated north to the beautiful town of Cambridge (no, not The Other Place, the other place). We arrived in Massachusetts at Harvard’s sports grounds in the early afternoon and wasted no time, getting straight to training to shape up before game day. We spent two hours out on the Crimson’s pitch, refining our play and marking our dark blue territory. Then back to the hotel for a quick change out of our sweaty gear into our evening clothes for a lovely cruise around the Boston Harbour. The team scrubbed up well, and boarded the boat to admire the city’s skyline from the water. As the sun set, and the wind got too chilly for us to stay out on the boat deck, we headed to the indoor Quincy Market for dinner. Whilst some players deemed it “a second rate covered market”, others were overheard singing its praises for the abundance of street food and lobster mac and cheese. Time for an early night before the big day. Tomorrow at 11am Oxford Women* will take on the elite Harvard team on their turf. We look forward to an exciting and challenging Varsity match.

day 4 - recovery in Boston

Lilla Berry

Time for the first lie-in of the trip! We snuggled and snoozed until the late morning and then spent a leisurely few hours in Boston getting coffee and treating ourselves to ice cream in the park. Then we had the pleasure of indulging in a recovery session at First Guess Fitness Boston. Here we did a combined hour of breath work and stretching to recuperate our minds and bodies after a tough game. It was fun, relaxing, and great for team bonding. Shoutout to First Guess Fitness for a much needed hour of R&R! Then the team made a quick educational pit stop in the historically haunted town of Salem. Here we found some nice street food, many pumpkins, and even encountered Frankenstein (not quite the witch we were expecting but fun all the same!) In the evening we took to the roads once again to begin our journey to our next opponents: West Point. The Blues look forward to staying with the team at the military academy and learning from them, on and off the pitch.

day 5 - discovering fishkill

Lilla Berry

Yes, there really is a place in the States called Fishkill. It’s on the river, if you haven’t guessed already. Upon arrival we were delighted to discover that the hotel had a gym and a pool, so in the morning that’s exactly where we went. We had a sturdy breakfast, followed by a group session in the gym and some team led yoga. Then, naturally, we hit the pool. Now make no mistake this was no leisurely activity - we still have games to play! And there is no rest for the wicked. We started with a simple, only slightly competitive ball game to practice our hand-eye coordination. This rather quickly developed into piggy-in-the-middle, which somehow became a contact sport, and before we knew it, it was a forwards vs backs relay race showdown. Unfortunately I don’t quite recall who won this. I’m sure it was very close, inches even. What I do recall is the backs showing the forwards how it’s done, and as always, being the dominant side. No matter who “won”. All this swimming made us very hungry, and luckily we had an outlet for this in the name of the local Redline Diner, which did not disappoint. We somehow seem to keep forgetting how large the portion sizes are here, always to our own demise; even our rugby player appetites needed a few takeaway boxes for the Oreo cheesecakes. We’ll be munching on those for a while. The evening was spent at a place called Angry Orchard, where those of us lucky to be born before September 2003 got to sample various types of cider. The rest of us had to watch with green eyes, cursing our under-21ness and distracting ourselves with card games. Dinner was then spent at Hudson Tacos, overlooking the Hudson River. The entire day was “wholesome, entertaining and bondsome” according to a trustworthy source, who surprisingly does study languages.

day 6&7 - to west point

Lilla Berry

Whilst the East Coast has plenty of fun and interesting cities, it also has a beautiful countryside, which is where we passed a wholesome morning. Today we went wildflower picking at a lovely little farm called Hudson Wildflowers. A much needed peaceful morning spent dwelling amongst nature and one another. The afternoon called for another road trip, this time back down towards New York to begin our stay at West Point U.S Military Academy. We underwent a thorough inspection before being permitted entry; some would say because we were going into a military base, others would suppose it was a method of deterrent to scare the visiting opposition, perhaps threatened by our squad. Perhaps. Upon entering the premises the team were awe-struck by the stunning campus, with its magnificent dark grey castle-like structure, set upon a hill overlooking the lake. Some players shrewdly observed that the building “looks just like Hogwarts”, a delightful piece of irony, considering we came directly from the real Hogwarts. For this two-day expedition each OURFC player was paired up with a cadet from the West Point rugby team and had the privilege of experiencing an authentic “day in the life” of a West Point student. We slept in their dorms, or barracks should I say, on “cots” of our own - which thank goodness did not mean those wooden cages you put infants in, as some of us feared, but rather referred to army camp beds. Then, like true soldiers we were up bright and early to go to “formation”, where one must stand in formation beneath a very important statue and listen to some trumpets and drums before marching off to breakfast. We tried our best to join in, and our lovely cadets were very accommodating and kindly guided us on what to do. After breakfast we had the exciting opportunity to try out a shooting simulation. We were instructed by a real officer on how to hold a rifle, aim, fire and re-load. He also helped us to improve our communication skills, which resulted in individuals screaming “RELOADING” during the simulation, and the adjacent player responding “I GOT YOU COVERED” in poor American accents. We intend to bring this attitude into our style of play. After lunch the squad was very generously hosted by USMA’s Coach Bill and his wife Renée at their house. Here we engaged in intense games of Ping Pong, whilst some of the players ran around with their bulldog Romeo. A pre-warm-up warm-up before the big game.

match report: blues v army

Anna Jay

At 1755hrs, West Point officers marched out of the stands, perfectly in time and beautifully executing the Colour Guard. The Dark Blues ran in a few paces behind, eager to battle against our American counterparts. Lilla Berry kicked off at 1800hrs, and the game was underway. The first few minutes quickly revealed the nature of the game that would be played: two highly skilled teams who both displayed excellent handling, moves, and strength. A slippery ball from the pouring rain proved no challenge for OURFC as they quickly moved their way up the pitch and towards the try line. West Point managed to turn the ball over and scored a try, putting the first numbers on the board. Amber Wilkins, a seasoned Blues front row, scored the first try for OURFC with a swan-like dive over the line (as swan-like as a prop can be). The ball moved quickly up and down the field with powerful leg drives and speedy rucks. The Army made it over the line a few more times as highly talented star players ran the ball in. OURFC kept their heads up and continued to play as a unit, dominant again in the scrums, generating turnovers and scrum penalties galore. The next try was to be Captain Wilko's who took her signature quick tap from a penalty, bringing the scoreline closer. OURFC's final try went to Zed Nott, a proud Dark Blue since 2020. After a brief hiatus where they confused the 5 metre line with the try line during a maul (easily done), they got the ball down just as the final whistle blew to lock in the score. Oxford 15 - 38 Army

day 9 - ourfc to the capital

Lilla Berry

Alert the masses, the British are coming, and this time they’re heading for the Capital. This morning we took a short train into Washington D.C to see the sights on our own little self-guided walking tour. No one can tell us this tour isn’t fun and educational! The tour began at the Capitol Building, which we observed resembled Oxford’s own Radcliffe Camera, only more white and shiny. After attempting to squeeze a picture of everyone in front of this magnificent structure, we moved onwards to the adjacent Supreme Court. This was “very cool”, and even ended up being interactive, as we had the pleasure of going to a lecture delivered in the real court room about the current system and its history. Unfortunately we have no photographic evidence of this, as it was very exclusive and snapping pictures was not permitted which some of us found out the hard way. Then we strolled onwards towards the Washington Monument, which much like the Empire State Building was more pleasing to the eye from further away than it was up close. But still a must-see! From there we made our way to the White House and its gardens, which we desired to see, but unfortunately were denied entry as we had not contacted our congressional representative in advance to request such a tour. Next time we will make sure to be better prepared. And still there was more learning to be done! The afternoon was spent browsing various museums, where generally the STEM nerds amongst us headed to the National Air and Space Museum, whilst the rest of us studying the much more interesting humanities subjects visited the National History Museum and Natural History Museum. All were equally entertaining. And finally a quick PSA to all those who may venture to the states, particularly Washington: beware of the milkshake sizes. Yes, they are delicious, but just one is almost enough to feed an entire squad. We are yet to learn our lesson with the portion sizes here. After an enjoyable day of sight-seeing we travelled back to the hotel for an early bedtime in preparation for our very exciting Navy game tomorrow. Bring on the last of the series! We can’t wait to give it our all.

DAY 10: NAVY & SIX FLAGS

Lilla Berry

Another early start for the Oxford Women, who are actually very used to it following our army training. We stopped off at another breakfast bagel shop on the way to the US Naval Academy where we faced their rugby team at 10:00am. To round off a thrilling tour, it was only right that we spent our last hours at one of America’s great theme parks, Six Flags. Here we encountered the wonder that is “Fright Night”, where multiple actors dressed as ghouls terrorised us in between coasters, jump-scaring innocent theme park goers and embarrassing us when we showed fear of the various clowns and zombies that invaded our path. It was quite the experience! The Captain proudly declared that her favourite ride, though she enjoyed many, was the tea cups, which are in her words “less tame than they look”. With only one player shamefully throwing up on the “El Toro” coaster, we would call the afternoon a successful outing. Speaking of our lovely captain, Alex Wilkinson or “Wilko”, we would like to say a huge thank you to her for all her effort and hard work that made this tour a great success. We have had the most wonderful time, and are so grateful for the opportunity to play, learn, travel and get to know one another out here in the USA. And of course, we owe so much gratitude to our amazing sponsors, who also played a huge role in making this all happen. It’s because of them that we could represent the Dark Blue all the way across the pond.

day 8 - travel to dc

Anna Jay

After an eventful day at West Point, we were all ready for a lie-in. Unfortunately, a 6am departure-time foiled this plan. Quick pit stop for some healthy fuel (McDonalds), and onto the scenic route we went (2 hours of motorway). Not that most of us were aware, as we were busy catching up on some well-needed sleep in the backseat. We arrived in Philadelphia for some speedy sightseeing - we saw the Liberty Bell, Town Hall, and visited the museum, before a quick look around some shops. The team has certainly enjoyed exploring the American superstores - Target ("tar-jée") and Walmart are well acquainted with OURFC now. We hopped back in the cars and continued our journey to our hotel just outside Washington. A relaxed evening was in store after 5 hours of driving and sore legs from the previous day's game. We cooped up in a room and watched the game against the Army to analyse our performance and prepare for our final showdown against the Navy. A reminder of a brilliant game and a close loss! The team then got an early night to recover for the following day of exploring Washington DC.

match report: blues v navy

Lilla Berry

Similarly to their military rivals, the Navy were a strong and fast team, which we quickly learnt. But our game had progressed so much since the first match, and our defence so much more cohesive, our attack more clinical. So naturally, it was an intense fight. The Navy scored early, but we pressed on and put pressure on their squad. We pushed them into their half, but one or two breaks from a golden shirt led to a harsh score. Our attack was strong, and we managed to get to many phases and make some impressive runs on the wing, one of which led to a glorious try from number 11 Katie Haines. Dashing between defenders, Katie ran the ball up from our 10m line to touch the ball down in the left corner. Instead of dwelling in our defeat, we reflected as a team on what an incredible trip we’ve had, and the amazing journey that our rugby has taken since arriving. We’ve faced extremely well-drilled and difficult sides, and have only improved with every game. The squad has learnt so much, as a team and as individual players, which we are so excited to take into next season.