Power, strength, and grit: Rugby rewrites the narrative of women’s sports
- Emma Wakefield
- 1 day ago
- 12 min read
On a hot spring Thursday evening in Tempe, Arizona, the Women’s Rugby Team at Arizona State University practices at Dorsey Fields. This marks the team’s final practice before its matchup on Saturday against rival Grand Canyon University. More than 30 players gather around the field – most arrive to practice early for warmups.
It’s a balmy 87 degrees with a slight breeze from the west. The sun begins to set behind ‘A’ Mountain on ASU’s campus. Head Coach Chelsea McIntosh reins in her team for a pre-practice huddle.
As the huddle comes to a close, players form two lines facing each other down the field, and begin with passing practice. As teammates throw a large, oval shaped rugby ball back and forth, they communicate to each other across the field.
On the sidelines sit a few other teammates. One is sophomore Sunday Crane. Crane would be on the field practicing too – if it weren’t for an injury sustained last season that set her back.
During a game in September against Northern Arizona University, Crane was carrying the ball down the field when an opponent made a tackle that caused her knee to twist in an awkward direction. Crane sat out the rest of the game. She made an appointment with a specialist at ASU Health, but couldn’t get in for another month. An initial appointment at the walk-in clinic deemed it a sprain.
Crane continued to walk and practice on her knee even though it didn’t feel right. One month went by and finally it was time for her appointment with a specialist. Crane immediately was taken to get an MRI, which showed tears in her ACL, MCL and meniscus.
Now that it’s been over one year since the injury, Crane is eager to get back on the field with her teammates, but the recovery process and the cost of physical therapy have held her back.
Even with her injury, Crane sticks around the team as a manager on the executive board.
“I just feel like I’ve kind of created a family here,” Crane says. “Immediately my freshman year I felt so embraced by this group of girls. Despite the terrible injury, I don’t think I would have had a fulfilling social experience my freshman year whatsoever without them.”
Back on the field for practice, it’s now 6:30 p.m. The sun falls further behind ‘A’ Mountain, and the breeze throws a little chill into the evening air. The team splits into two and begins a game of touch rugby.
Junior Julia Bognar executes a great play. She catches a pass from a teammate ahead, dodges around opponents and gets the ball into the end zone. Bognar is one of the team’s best forwards. She’s also vice president and one of the captains.
The team continues to make plays back and forth down the field throughout practice. Players take possession of the ball, but many times are touched, which means they simulate a tackle by lying on the ground. As a player lies on the ground, she gets the ball to another teammate in order to keep the game moving.
The rules in rugby are different compared to other sports like football. In rugby, the play continues down the field even when the player in possession of the ball is tackled.
Rugby is unlike any other team sport. The rules for men and women are exactly the same. In rugby, women are allowed to tackle as men do and use the same equipment that men use.
In other sports like hockey, football, lacrosse, basketball, along with baseball and softball, the women’s rules are modified to make the game safer and even easier. Not in rugby. The fact that women get to tackle opponents without padding just like the men is what sets the sport apart.
“I feel empowered to be able to play a game like this – the exact same way as men,” Bognar says.
It’s now 7 p.m., and the sun hides behind ‘A’ mountain. As LED lights illuminate the field below, the team splits into small groups to perform some drills. One group practices lineouts – an important aspect of play in rugby where players lift up another teammate to catch the ball. This restarts the play when the ball goes out of bounds.
Coach Louis Quiroz encourages his athletes as they work hard on the field. Coaching has been a part of Quiroz’s life for a long time. He coached football for many years, and then 12 years ago transferred to rugby. His daughter, Isabelle Quiroz, is a sophomore on the team along with his son, Louis Quiroz, who played for the men’s team at ASU. Quiroz continues to coach women’s rugby because the energy and determination of the female players is different than it is for male players.
“They use everybody as a team. They pass together, they fall together, they just work as one,” Quiroz says.
Quiroz enjoys both men’s and women’s rugby, but explains that the sport is different between the two. When men play rugby they try to prove who is the strongest player on the field, whereas when women play they want to prove which team is the strongest on the field.
As the Sun Devils wrap up their final practice of the week, they form a huddle under the lights.
Bognar says that this huddle is a great bonding exercise. Every time, they ask one player why she joined the team and why she continues to stay. Many say the team feels like family, and find it empowering to be surrounded by strong women.
To close out practice, the team performs a long-time tradition. Why this transition? No one really knows, but they kick their feet to the middle of the circle and yell,
“SQUEEZE KNEES, DEVILS!”
Rugby and the Rise of Women’s Sports
The history of women’s rugby is vague. The sport began in 1823, but women weren’t accepted by society to play until the 20th century. Before this, they played the game discreetly, or ran the risk of getting in trouble with law enforcement. However, Emily Valentine is believed to be the first documented female player who joined the Portora Royal School Men’s Rugby Team in Ireland in 1884. This was the only time a woman was allowed to play prior to the 20th century.
The past brought change. Women’s sports have skyrocketed in viewership and participation, led by female athletes such as Simone Biles, Caitlin Clark and Serena Williams.
Most influential for rugby may be Ilona Maher.
Maher gained a large audience prior to her performance in the 2024 Paris Olympics. Maher became famous on TikTok, Instagram and X with her posts related to body positivity and muscles on women. In July, she became the world’s most followed rugby player and was an integral competitor for Team USA, which won a bronze medal in Paris. Maher encourages female athletes, especially rugby players, to accept themselves for who they are. Maher shows less interest in fame and more in delivering a message that women are strong, powerful and beautiful.
Bognar believes the Paris Olympics, and Maher, had a large impact on the ASU Women’s Rugby Team.
Building a Team
Determined to recruit enough players to add a B-squad – essentially doubling the size of the team – Captains Bognar and Riko Takayoshi along with team president Eliana Mulliniks organized recruiting events around campus. At each one, they would hold up a stick with Maher’s face on it.
In the end, the team didn’t just double. It went from about 15 players in the 2024 season to 42 recorded players in 2025.
“Ilona Maher is out there challenging every single standard,” Bognar said. “I feel like she’s gained so much respect and attraction, and she’s sticking to her true self and she’s changing the game.”
Although stories like Maher’s show progress, female athletes are still held back compared with male athletes when it comes to the rulebook. Many sports like hockey, football, lacrosse, basketball, and even baseball and softball modify the women’s rules to be safer or less rough.
“They [women] deserve to play the same exact sport as men,” said Bognar. “It just makes me upset that women are being held back.”
The sport of rugby defies the stereotypes that women aren’t as tough as men. It gives women the opportunity to show their true colors and oppose society's standards. As rugby grows, Bognar hopes it will encourage other sports not to discriminate against women when it comes to the rulebook.
“I’ve honestly never felt more like a woman than when I play rugby,” Bognar said.
Underrepresentation in Women’s Sports
Arizona State University Professor Rich Johnson researches minority groups and women in sports. Most of his research has shown that female athletes are underrepresented in major sports organizations and the NCAA, specifically on social media. Female athletes are sexualized more than males, and many times they’re considered the alternative sport.
In many sports, the gap between the women’s rulebook and the men’s rulebook can spark controversy. Rules like these are put into place for multiple reasons. One is the stereotype that women aren’t as physical as men and need to be more protected.
NCAA hockey doesn’t allow women to bodycheck, but men can. This changes the game completely. Both stick and bodychecking is allowed in men’s lacrosse, but for the most part not for women. The NBA uses a ball one inch larger than the WNBA. While there are no current plans in place, many male basketball players, like Shaquille O’Neal, have suggested that lowering the rims in women’s basketball would allow for more dunks and bigger plays, which in turn could increase the sport’s viewership.
“I don’t believe that’s a good change, honestly,” Johnson said. “If you lower the rims in women’s basketball, then it completely alters the perception that basketball is played on an even level between men and women, and already women fight that. … It then adds to this idea that women are weaker than men.”
Although the NCAA began in 1906, women’s sports weren’t added until 1981. The NBA was founded in 1946; the WNBA didn’t begin until 1996. The PWHL began in 2023, but the NHL was founded in 1917.
“Men’s sports had a 20 year [or more] head start on women’s sports,” said Johnson. Because of that, women’s sports are often fighting against the perception that they are an alternative.”
Another reason women’s sports aren’t given as much recognition is funding. It costs money to broadcast games on television, and many sports channels and organizations such as ESPN and NBC believe they would receive more viewership from a men’s game rather than a women’s game.
“The problem is women’s sports will never make money if they’re not covered,” said Johnson. “If the media doesn’t get excited and show that women’s sports are exciting, then it’s never going to grow.”
Julia Bognar’s Story
Bognar was born and raised in East Brunswick, New Jersey, just 10 minutes away from Rutgers University. Sports have always been a part of her life. Soccer was her forte, and she played it for 11 years all the way through high school. At the time, Bognar’s older brother, John Bognar, played rugby for Rutgers’ team, so she knew a little bit about the sport, but never considered playing. Since soccer had always been a part of her life, she thought about pursuing it in college, but always knew something about that didn’t feel right. That was around the same time ASU came to her attention.
The first time Bognar stepped foot on ASU’s campus, she fell in love. The rays of the hot sun shone down on her skin in the heart of fall semester. She was surrounded by students from various backgrounds, much different from New Jersey. Her room in the Hassayampa Dormitories on the Tempe Campus was cramped, but Bognar didn’t care.
A few doors down from her was another freshman named Jacob Hurl. The first time Hurl picked up a rugby ball his senior year of high school, it was clear that he was meant to play the game. Hurl quickly progressed into an outstanding player, and after high school continued to play for the Kansas City Blues Rugby Football Club, a D1 amateur league, throughout the summer before his freshman year. Hurl knew ASU had a remarkable rugby team, and was eager to join as soon as he arrived on campus.
As Hurl integrated himself onto the team, he became close friends with Bognar just a couple of doors down. Hurl was keen on getting Bognar to join the Women’s Rugby Team at ASU, since she already had some background in the sport thanks to her brother.
After some convincing, Bognar attended a team meeting. She has been an integral member of the team since.
Freshman Year Setback
Similar to Crane, Bognar experienced a season ending injury her freshman season. In one of the last games of the year, Bognar made a tackle that tweaked her leg until she heard it crack. Soon she found out that she had a clean break in her fibula.
The recovery was long – longer than it should have been. According to The Healthline the recovery for fibula fractures is usually three to four months. Bognar’s took eight.
After six to eight weeks in a boot, she said her doctors didn’t give her physical therapy to recover – they didn’t think she needed it. Bognar quickly realized this was not the case as she could hardly walk through the pain, not to mention run or tackle.
After she was continuously denied physical therapy, Bognar got herself a personal trainer three times a week. Eventually this treatment made her leg feel much better, and after a total of eight months she was finally able to run without pain.
To this day Bognar isn’t sure what to think of the situation. She felt that she was unheard by doctors and professionals when she explained her pain. Maybe it’s because I was “just another young woman complaining,” Bognar thought.
The Rivalry Game
The Sun Devils’ last regular season game is a crucial one, and Saturday seems to approach quickly. Not only is it senior night, but GCU is also one of ASU’s biggest rivals.
“It’s probably one of the most physically demanding and mentally demanding games that we play all year,” Bognar says.
The women wake up bright and early to prepare and set up the field for a 10 a.m. kickoff. The Arizona heat is expected to hold off this afternoon, but the wind hasn’t slowed down. Friends, families, and fans gather around the left side of the field sitting in foldable chairs covered by umbrellas. On the right of the field are both teams and coaches huddled under canopies to block the sun.
The game begins, and not one second goes to waste from either team. Women tackle left and right. They grab their opponents by the hips and throw them down. Sometimes, when the time is right, they run full speed and check them at the waist. GCU keeps possession of the ball for a majority of the first half, until the team eventually scores a goal – in rugby it’s called a try. Tries are worth five points, and to score one the ball must touch the ground in the end zone. After a team scores a try they have the opportunity to kick the ball through the posts for an extra 2 points.
The first half continues as superstars Bognar and Takayoshi lead their team toward victory. Takayoshi, one of ASU’s main kickers, kicks the ball with great force down the field to continue play.
With a fair amount of time left in the first half, Bognar gets caught up in the middle of a brawl where a GCU player smashes into her left side. Despite the aching pain Bognar feels in her left shoulder, she continues to play for the rest of the half.
The first half ends, with ASU lagging on the scoreboard. Both teams take a break on the sidelines. Coach McIntosh talks through the struggles on the field and tries to get the team back on track.
The second half begins with an ASU kickoff. As both teams run back and forth down the field, GCU continues to dominate. ASU fans proceed to watch the game, but one player is missing this time around – Bognar.
Bognar comes walking down the sidelines towards the fans on the left side of the field, with her arm nestled in a sling. She says that she might’ve broken her collarbone and is heading to the doctor to get an x-ray.
This is a major setback for the trailing Sun Devils. The team must put up a good fight in order to give GCU a run for its money, and they do. Sophomore Naomi Palmer rushes GCU’s offensive line and scores ASU’s first penalty try of the game. They continue to put scores on the board with three penalty kicks, and get to 16 points.
The second half is near the end. The Lopes charge the Sun Devils, but ASU doesn’t go down without a fight. After many kicks, hits, and bruises, GCU comes out on top in a 46-16 victory.
The Sun Devils don’t let this tough loss get in the way of what’s really significant.
To honor their seniors, the underclassmen put together gifts and cards for an end of the game ceremony. It’s reassuring for many of the women here to know they have great teammates by their sides – even through the losses. They share hugs and laughs as friends and families gather around the field to watch.
During the ceremony, it’s hard to overlook the cuts, bruises, braces, and ice bags the players have around their bodies. Injuries are expected, and happen often. The sport requires determination, and without it, most wouldn’t be out on the field today.
Rugby is no doubt an ambitious sport, but it’s nothing a woman can’t handle.