Subbed into the match in the second half, Carolyn Gudmundseth was just the spark Cowichan’s premier women’s rugby team needed as they played host to a very strong Capilano side last Saturday.
Gudmundseth made an immediate impact on the game, going on a 60-metre run, dodging and fending off Capilano tacklers to score. She went on another similar run later in the half, feeding the ball to Natasha Smith, who sent it to Jamaina McLeod, who took it over the line. Smith added another try — her second of the game — to make it a 29-17 final in Cowichan’s favour.
The back-and-forth first half saw Cowichan open the scoring when No. 8 Kelly Russell pressed down the ball after a pushover scrum. Smith also scored in the first half, and Russell slotted the conversion as Cowichan went into halftime trailing 17-12. Led by Gudmundseth, Cowichan dominated on both sides of the ball in the second half.
Russell, an Olympic bronze medallist with Canada’s sevens squad who is also a member of the national XV side, and Smith, a member of the Maple Leafs national development team who has also found her way into a handful of senior games, were named players of the game, while Mark Bryant of BC Rugby News picked Gudmundseth as game MVP.
The Cowichan premier women will be at home again this weekend, taking on Burnaby Lake at noon on Saturday.