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.

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.