Lauren Lawston, rugby player – sports after high school

Lauren Lawston, a 2019 Rushford-Peterson graduate, was a typical girl athlete at R-P – always competitive, she played volleyball, basketball, and ran track. The middle child of Lisa and Gene Lawston, Lauren has an older brother, Blake, who’s 25 and a younger brother, Jack, who’s 15.

Once she graduated from R-P, she headed to University of Wisconsin Eau Claire to major in communication sciences and disorders.

In the spring semester of 2020 (her freshman year) during the pandemic lockdown, Lauren decided to join rugby. She knew nothing about the sport, but wanted to try something different. She spent the next year and a half practicing with the team before actually playing a game.

Now a senior at Eau Claire, Lauren is a leader on her team. She plays fly-half, a kicker, which is a position similar to a quarterback in football. Lauren makes decisions for the team as the fly-half in moving the ball to the goal.

Lauren likens rugby to a combination of football and soccer played with a ball similar to a football but with more rounded ends than a pointed football. Little protective gear is used –just a mouth guard for everyone and “scrum caps” are used by a few to cushion their heads. Lauren assured that if you fall correctly, you can avoid concussions while playing rugby.

According to Lawston, they are expected to go in controlled when they tackle an opponent and go down with the person as they tackle them.

Lauren herself has had a few injuries – a partially torn ligament in her elbow from a fall, a sprained ankle and sprained back and, more recently, a knee injury, but no concussions. She views the injuries as “100% worth it!” She quickly noted that during a match, the adrenaline kicks in and you don’t even feel it at the time.

The part that surprised Lauren most about rugby was the fact that a player can only throw the ball backwards. Another thing that surprised and delighted Lauren was the culture surrounding rugby. While players are extremely competitive when they play, all rugby players are kind and caring to all others. There are no rivals; everybody loves everybody. She added that she enjoyed watching her parents learn about and embrace the rugby culture.

Rugby is played all year; in the fall it is 15 on 15 players, while in the spring it is played with seven on seven players. If a player is substituted out of a game, that player cannot rejoin the game.

When asked if coming from a small school like R-P was a help or hindrance, Lauren replied that she felt it helped. Since she was in a small school she was able to play many sports and got motivation to remain active. She said her connections with coaches and teachers in high school allowed her to be a coachable player. Her only regret about her high school years is that, looking back, she now realizes she could have been kinder to other players. She declared, “I was kind of a mean player in high school – I wish I’d have been more kind!”

The Eau Claire women’s rugby team just finished a very successful fall season. They won their division, becoming the D2 champions and went on to nationals in Houston, Tex., winning nationals as well. No team scored against them during playoffs; they won by 370 to zero.

Lawston credited her coaches with the wins. “They set us up to win; they are open to new ideas.” According to Lauren, the coaches ran an offense that other teams had never seen.

Lauren was also chosen to play for the Great Waters team in Austin, Tex., in January. She had to try out for the team, which is composed of players from Wisconsin, Michigan, and Illinois. This was her second year playing on the team; this year she was asked to take on the role of captain. While her knee injury sidelined her for some of the action, she was still able to captain the team from the sidelines.

The Great Waters team took fifth place out of 10 in the competition. Lauren declared that they had a great time and that their teammates were amazing. She noted that it was cool to be coached by different coaches; they were able to practice with a USA player in Austin. Once again she was impressed by the rugby culture displayed in Austin; they were all there to win, but “everyone was loving on everyone else and wished the best for all.” Lauren felt honored to be her team’s captain.

Lauren plans on attending grad school for audiology; her top choice would be at Pacific University in Oregon. She hopes in the future to play on an upper level rugby team, if possible in the women’s premier league.  One of her biggest goals is to start a rugby program for kids where there is none. She’d love to see others enjoy the sport as much as she does.

Lawston’s advice to young college students thinking of trying something new is: “Just go for it! Don‘t be afraid to try new things! It’s more fun that way and you’ll meet a whole new community and culture! You’ll have instant friends and get to travel!” She added that rugby was an especially easy sport for people to try – the team needs all sizes of people!