Women’s Cougar Rugby (BYU) has been a faithful attendee to the Las Vegas Invitational since its inception, mostly because competition is limited in Utah and the team has 15s playoffs for which to prepare. BYU is also pretty good at 7s, despite the first side’s early exit from the competition.

Pool play started with two shutouts against Notre Dame College (31-0) and Stony Brook (36-0). A really great game against the University of Victoria followed, and BYU prevailed 28-7. The Vikes went on to win the tournament, defeating Guelph 14-7 in the title bout. Guelph, also Canadian, knocked BYU out of Cup contention with a 19-15 win in the quarterfinals.

While an LVI trophy would have been nice, coach Tom Waqa is looking at the bigger picture, and this tournament serves a specific purpose.

“We’re trying to get into game mode right now, and that means fitness and skills,” Waqa said. “Sevens is a good way to get that.”

Waqa is confident in the players he has right now, but last fall, the team drew some unwanted attention when it lost 30-29 to New Mexico. A good team, UNM leaned on finishers Tanya Aragon and Whitney White on the wing, and the strategy afforded a Mountain West title.

“We have the tools now,” Waqa said of shutting down UNM's outside attack. “Defensively, we weren’t ready. We have a young back line, and we didn’t tackle very well. We had opportunities to make those tackles against those girls, but our technique was not right. It’s just mechanics. With the current group, we’ll be able to take care of that and more.”

The current group of players is different from the one that played in New Mexico last fall, and BYU will gauge its improvements during a March 7 friendly against the Lobos.

“We have a good recruiting class and some veterans who are holding the fort right now and coming back,” Waqa said. “We’ll have a pretty good side this season and we’re excited about our talent pool.”

Many of those veterans were on display during the LVI. Jordan Gray, Dana Greenwood, and Kayla Richardson are the leaders, and Justina Grubb added some power up front. The speed came from experienced wing Chanel Arts as well as Ali Smith.

“Some of the girls came back from their missions, and some of them were in the system,” Waqa said of players like Richardson, who’s been to age grade camps. “But you cannot build on reputation. This year, since we have so much depth, I’m challenging the girls to work on fitness and skills, and we’re going to pick on form, not reputation.”

That means some hard decision lie ahead, but Waqa is dedicated to the cause and already placed some well known players on the second side.

“We feel pretty good,” Waqa looked ahead to the playoffs. “We just need to be playing. We haven’t played a 15s game yet [this year]. But with the raw materials I have, I’m happy. It’s up to us, the coaches, to get the players ready.”

BYU has a couple of local matches in preparation for the post-season and is in the process of locking down a game with Central Washington. The game isn’t confirmed yet, but Waqa indicated the friendly is likely.