It took some doing but the DI Elite competition did get played, for the most part, and this weekend we get to see the semifinals.

Throughout the season Lindenwood and Central Washington managed relatively well to play their games, and with the odd delay and hiccup, Life and BYU got some games in too. Unfortunately, Penn State never made it, with even last week's hoped-for play-in game with BYU being called off at the last minute.

Life at Central Washington

Central Washington's move into 2nd place over Life is an interesting shift in the balance of power. Whether that will be born out this weekend remains to be seen. Life only lost 10-5 to Central three weeks ago, so this weekend's semifinal, albeit played in Ellensberg, Wash. not Marietta Ga., could go either way.

"We are so excited!" enthused Life Head Coach Rosaling Chou. "I was really proud of the defensive effort we gave three weeks ago, and we want to build on that to be able to adjust some things on attack to put more points on the board. CWU is just a smart team that managed the game so well with the experience they have at both 9 and 10."

CWU, too, is looking to score more than just a try or two.

"We are looking more dialed-in for semis," said CWU Head Coach Trevor Richards, who nonetheless will be without a couple of players due to injury. "The team has had a few weeks to recover from a tough five-week campaign and we’ve been able to focus on the finer details of what we need to do in order to beat a very good Life team. On attack we have been working on being better at reading and accessing space in a more dynamic manner. Defensively, we are looking to make more positive tackles and maintain our discipline in executing our system."

Teams have had some time off over the past few weeks, and look at that differently. As Richards said, his Wildcats have used that time to work on some things. For Life, they send two teams to the Tropical 7s and did very well. (Life's Two Teams Dominate Women U23s at Tropical 7s). Said Chou:  "playing 7s was so great for us from a morale standpoint, we couldn't have asked for a better trip than Tropical 7s. So, the team just needs to show up for each other [this weekend] and play a full 80 minutes."

BYU at Lindenwood

BYU had a game scheduled against Penn State to decide which of those two would get into the semifinals. But COVID shutdowns have not been kind to Penn State rugby.

"We wanted that game," said BYU Head Coach Tom Waqa. "Win or lose, it would have been useful as a development game, not so much for the playoffs but for the program moving forward. All cancellations and not getting any game this past COVID season 2020-2021 will hurt any program, not just BYU. It is what it is. We cannot dwell on that negative as an excuse."

So BYU does the best it can and tries to unleash its offense against a team that held them to one two two weeks ago and scored 77. It will be an uphill climb.

"Maybe we need some good meals," joked Waqa, referring to size differential between the two teams. "We can just do what we do best and play our game on Saturday. We will leave the details within the team for Saturday. [Lindenwood] Coach Billy Nicholas has done a wonderful job with the Lindenwood program. The Lions have built a reputation on their record. We have a good reputation too. We hope to improve this time and make it a better game than the last one. If we can go to the game excited at the challenge we have in front of us, that will put us in a good position to play the game we need to play."

And Lindenwood, after being the #1-ranked team all season, has all the pressure on them.

"We haven't participated in a playoff structure in close to two years so it's been a long time coming," said Nicholas. "It's exciting to know what's on the line and that there is this culminating win-or-go-home experience at the end of the year to play for and the team is really looking forward to that competition."

But they need to execute. 

"For us to do well we need to play in the moment," said Nicholas. "It's tough not to get ahead of yourself and start thinking about the result before the kickoff even begins—we just want everyone to enjoy the experience, have fun and play to our potential. This year this team has been firing on all cylinders and one of the most skilled teams I've had the opportunity to coach at Lindenwood with a massive group of seniors leaving there is no doubt they'll be a big part in leaving it all on the pitch regardless of result."