Tucson Women's Rugby Team Starts Quest For National Championship

TUCSON, AZ – If at first you don't succeed... fight your back to the championship game the next year. hat's what The Old Pueblo Lightning are hoping to do this year.

Old Pueblo, Tucson's women's rugby team, won their second straight Division II women's championship last month by beating the Las Vegas Slots in the Southern California Rugby Football Union League finals.

Saturday they start play in the championship series, taking on the Austin Valkyries.

If they win, Old Pueblo takes on the winner of the Sacramento Amazons and St. Louis Sabres. (Sign up for Tucson Patch for real-time news alerts and free morning newsletters. Like us on Facebook. Also, download the free Patch iPhone app or free Patch Android app.)

The winner of that series then takes on the Eastern Club champions at Infinity Park in Glendale.

Old Pueblo made it through the season undefeated.

“For the trajectory that I want, we’re right where we need to be,” Old Pueblo coach Swing DePoint said. “What’s been nice this year is finally being able to get the offensive engine going, just in general.

"It took longer than the defense to get established. We’re scoring the points that we need to score and they’re really starting to learn the pattern of play."

Photo via Old Pueblo Lightning.