Westside Answers Qs at HS Club Nationals

Westside Revenge is going for it this spring. The three-year-old team is taking on Division I competition at the Midwest 15s championships and then debuting at high school nationals this May. There are many questions to be answered on the road and against out-of-state competition, and those are gauges that the Indiana team is eager to pursue.

The Revenge sprung to life after covid and played its first Rugby Indiana 7s season in fall 2022.

“We flourished right out of the gate and did well that first year,” said Westside Revenge head coach Terry MacMillan, whose team then won the Indiana 7s title in 2023 and then again in 2024. “With a new team, it’s easier to coach up players real fast and be good in 7s.”

Westside also committed to 15s and played its first two springs in Indiana’s Division II.

 

“Because we’re a new program, Rugby Indiana kept us in DII last year,” MacMillan said. “But I’ve been around the sport a long time and I was talking to directors and coaches, ‘Put us in DI. We’ll roll over everyone in DII and I don’t want to hurt anyone.’ I knew we were going to be good and we just blew by everybody.”

En route to winning the 2024 Indiana Division II 15s championship, the Revenge also tested itself at the regional level. The team performed well in the Open Division of the Midwest High School 15s Championship, encouraging more exploration outside of the state. After repeating as Indiana 7s champion in October, the team traveled to Greer 7s in South Carolina and took on top talents like Raleigh Cobras, Charlotte Cardinals and Atlanta Valkyries.

More attention filtered Westside’s way as players started making the Midwest Thunderbird squads and traveling internationally with Eagle Impact Rugby Academy (EIRA). Arguably the most recognizable name on the Westside lineup is the speedy Giselle Long, who is one of two junior captains alongside flyhalf Melanie Jones. Long is a Baby Bird and EIRA standout, and has played representative ball alongside Westside teammates Soryah Hart, Jayana Williams and Elizabeth Robison.

“We’re good at the top,” MacMillan said. “We have 10-12 really good rugby players. A little bit of star power. And we’re constantly trying to fill in with the meat-and-potato players that you need for 15s.”

 

“In 7s, if I travel 100%, I can probably beat any team in the nation,” the coach continued. “It’s going to be a big step going to DI Midwest and nationals all in one year. The main thing is keeping everyone healthy.”

Team captain Taryn MacMillan (lead photo) is an important piece. She is coach Terry’s daughter and has been playing since she was eight years old.

“She’s a typical coach’s daughter – steady, very experienced, very knowledgeable,” MacMillan said of the Aquinas College commit. “Not the quickest, not the fastest, just a smart rugby player.”

MacMillan is trained as a scrumhalf but has played all over the pack. This spring, as Westside readies for Indiana DI and beyond, the graduating senior has bumped out to outside center while a new scrumhalf learns the position. It works well in the 1-3-3-1 attack and MacMillan provides some extra security as a second halfback during open play.

“We’re more of a 7s-oriented team,” MacMillan described the team’s 15s style. “We attack wide and really use our speed. There’s a lot of offloads, a lot of rucking, little mauling, little set piece. We keep the ball in hand.

“It’s not a secret,” the coach continued. “Most people figure it out when they see our alignment, which looks like we’re fielding two 7s teams out there. That’s kind of the goal. It’s more dynamic and moves away from the old crash-crash-crash style of rugby.”

 

Westside is now competing in Indiana’s DI 15s competition and has its first league game tomorrow against the Chargers. Otherwise, the only other 15s the team has played was a March 15 scrimmage against Michigan’s Rockford. The Michigan state champion – which competes as a single-school team during the state 15s season in the fall – is also debuting at high school club nationals this year. Andy Dauser is the Rockford head coach and also part of the coaching staff at Aquinas – Taryn MacMillan’s future school. So that’s how conversations around the spring 15s friendly got started.

“They traveled strong,” MacMillan said. “We went up on them 12-0 early on and then it was injuries, and I think we finished with 13. They were mid-season fit; we were not.”

Rockford won the scrimmage 47-12 and also featured Lilly Stough, a Waverly Shell Rock product who is also heading to Aquinas in the fall. Stough hails from Iowa, where there is no 15s rugby for girls’ high schoolers outside of the state all-star team, Iowa Hawkettes.

“She’s tremendous,” MacMillan said. “She is one of the best high school rugby players I’ve seen. I have a lot of respect for her game.

“They’re pretty stacked. Drew – Andy Dauser’s daughter – is up there, too,” he added. “I’d like another run at them at Midwests, playing team to team.”

The invitation to play at nationals arrived relatively recently, and the Westside coaching staff is taking a, ‘We won’t know until we know,’ approach to that competition. At high school club nationals (May 16-17, Madison, Wis.), the Revenge will join a field that includes reigning champion Belmont Shore (SoCal), Majestics (Utah), United (Utah), SacAir Amazons (NorCal), San Mateo Wolverines (NorCal), Rockford (Mich.) and the Chicago Rugby Club.

“Some of the traditionally strong programs here in Indiana are having some down years, so it’s hard to gauge ourselves until we get out of state – Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan,” MacMillan said. “My daughter scolds me for being too pessimistic, but I am a little bit leery just because numbers haven’t been great. But we’ll go out there and see what we’re made of.”

Read more about Rugby Indiana, the Midwest championships and follow @girlsclubrugbynationals on Instagram for the latest HS club 15s nationals.