From MNDAILY.COM

Alumna tries for second World Cup

Christy Ringgenberg is currently trying out to be a member of Team USA’s 15-woman rugby World Cup team. Christy Ringgenberg captained Team USA in 2009.   Andressa Lunardelli

The sport is known around the world as rugby, and one University of Minnesota alumna is trying to put the most recent Olympic addition on the map in the United States.

“You have to have field sense and you have to be competitive,” Tierney said. “You can’t walk into rugby not having done anything competitive and captain an international team.”

Amanda Douglas is February's Valkyrie of the Month.  Here is her story:

My favorite Valkyrie experience was my first game with the team. We were in Chicago. It was fall and raining. The downpour was steady and not a light sprinkle. There were deep puddles resembling small lakes everywhere. The extra water just kept coming throughout both the A side and B side games. A few players even worried about getting tackled in some some places for fear of drowning. Ball handling was especially difficult since it was slippery and kept squirting out of everyone's hands. Everyone including fans and coaches were completely soaked and standing in ankle deep water. Not a single person had dry feet that day. 

By RUGBYMag.com Staff

We Can’t Stop the Fire!…Though it’s always burnin’… Always

God. We are so sexy. The Tracy has completely taken over our bodies. The other day we were staring in front of the mirror, admiring our sweet triceps, when all of a sudden, our shirts just started shredding apart. Jenny Menke – we now understand how you feel when your shirts rip… This is going to be a pricey adventure. Already we have had to buy new pants. Another change we have noticed is we no longer are affected by the elements of winter and negative temperatures. This power is so great, that we now can ride our bobsled to the gym. Parking has become a problem, but no one wants to mess with thighs like ours.

Women’s Rugby World Cup
2010 Pools Announced

The premier 15-aside tournament in the Women's Game, which will be played from August 20 to September 5, will feature three pools of four teams with defending champions New Zealand, hosts and 2006 runners-up England and 2006 bronze medalists France all ranked top seeds in their pool.

The unprecedented qualification process, which saw 16 teams compete for the six places available outside the automatically qualified teams, was completed when Kazakhstan defeated Japan 43-5 to claim a place in Pool B, while Sweden join Pool C in their first appearance on the Women's Rugby World Cup stage since 1998.

Pool A: New Zealand, Wales, Australia, South Africa

Pool B: England, USA, Ireland, Kazakhstan

Pool C: France, Canada, Scotland, Sweden