Women’s rugby has always been an integral part of UM Wolves RFC. The club’s women’s team, which for several years was the only female team representing the University of Malta in national competition, was the first Wolves entity to enter the national leagues back in 2019.
Women’s rugby was hard hit by Covid-19, but with the opportunity of a proper league structure again being formed in 2023/24, we were determined to strengthen our women’s side once again.
The hard work started early: a host of trial sessions ran throughout May, with the team going from three loyal players to a squad of 23 players in the space of just six weeks before the beginning of pre-season over summer.
Under the stewardship of club stalwart Carmelo Longo and now lead by Raisa Farrugia as new captain, the squad began to take shape with a blend of experience in the form of new arrivals and Malta internationals Tessabelle Sultana Evans, Deborah Cutajar, Sairita Cassar, and Rebekka Bartolo together with those just being introduced to the sport.
Three teams participate in the MRFU Women’s 7s Series – UM Wolves RFC, Stompers RFC and Kavallieri RFC – with the season being made up of 10 mini round-robin tournaments between the three teams played on weekends between October and April.
It was a strong start for our ladies: a 15-15 draw against Stompers and a 15-10 win against Kavallieri in the first tournament, and a 17-15 win against Stompers, with Mari Clemensen’s conversion making the difference, in the only fixture of the second tournament a week later proved that they meant business this season.
The third weekend, played in November, saw the ladies pick up an important 14-7 win over Stompers but then fall to their first loss of the season against a resurgent Kavallieri.
Two weekends in December were subsequently postponed due to inclement weather, with these having to be made up in the New Year.
It was in fact a busy start of 2024 for the ladies’ team: they kicked off the year with defeat to Stompers but a 22-10 victory over Kavallieri. A defeat to Stompers followed the week after.
However, they were back at it in the first week of February, this time emerging as weekend winners with a 27-10 win over Stompers and a 29-0 win over Kavallieri – enough to lift them back into championship contention.
Tessabelle Sultana Evans has proven to be a key player for the team with nine tries to her name, while Raisa Farrugia has also been integral with five tries of her own. Amber Dalli and Rasvita Sluckute, who were part of a cohort of players to start playing rugby this summer, have taken to the sport like fishes to water with four tries each this season.
Special mention must also go to Jessica Pace and Amy Munro, who both debuted at senior level this season at the age of 17, and have since both gone on to put their names on the scoresheet with a try each this season.
With four weekends of the season still to go, the women sit level in first place with Stompers as both teams have racked up 22 points over the course of the season – meaning that it promises to be an exciting conclusion to the season!
