Kinga Obartuch

The women’s rugby team is a tight-knit club whose members forge friendships over a sport that helps to shape their college experience. 

The team went 5–3 in 2024, and this year, they are hoping to build off of that strong season. 

With a large departing senior class last spring, the Elis will rely on new players to fill those holes.

“We’ve got a small, but mighty senior class bringing the experience and rugby IQ onto the field, but I’m most excited to watch our underclassmen step up and get into a groove that can carry us forward the next few years,” Lauren Delwiche ’26 wrote to the News. 

Many of the underclassmen that the squad will rely on this year came into Yale with no prior rugby experience. In fact, current captain Vivian Wu ’27 told the News that she — as well as almost every other member of the team — had “never even touched a rugby ball before coming to Yale.” 

So far in her captaincy, Wu and the Bulldogs are 1–0 after defeating Worcester Polytechnic Institute by a score of 128–7 over the weekend. In her role leading the team both on and off of the pitch, Wu is relying on the standard set by previous players. 

She was drawn to the squad’s teamwork and supportive energy, which is exactly the culture she is trying to instill this year. 

“The upperclassmen on the team during my first two years who have since graduated were examples of strong, fearless, incredible women who I’ve learned so much from and made me so excited to be part of this team,” Wu wrote. 

In their first home game of the 2025 campaign, the Elis will take on Tufts on Oct. 4. However, they have a different game later that month circled on their calendars.

“We’ve had a bit of a rivalry with Endicott for a few years now. They’ve graduated a bunch of seniors and so have we, so I’m excited to see how we square off with them this year,” Delwiche wrote. 

Last year, the Gulls took down the Bulldogs both times they squared off against each other. Both of those games were in enemy territory for Yale. This year, when they line up against each other on Oct. 25, Yale will have home-field advantage. 

While that is an advantage for Yale, the Bulldogs know they have a hard-fought game ahead of them.   

“I am most excited to play Endicott this season because they are always a challenging opponent and give us the opportunity to really test ourselves,” Wu said. 

Apart from Tufts and Endicott, the Yale women’s rugby team will also take on Salve Regina University and Columbia in home games this season.