Campus Life

MacDonald to join national squad

A third former University of Lethbridge Pronghorns women's rugby player has been named to the roster of Canada's Women's Rugby World Cup roster.

Former Pronghorn Ashley MacDonald has been called up from the non-traveling reserve roster as an injury replacement and will join Ashley Patzer and Paige Knauf (nee Burdett) on the Canadian squad that will participate in the Women's Rugby World Cup, Aug. 20 to Sept. 5 in England.

MacDonald suffered a broken leg in the dying minutes of the 2009 CIS Championship game, and endured a long road to recovery. She worked extremely hard to be fit for the summer rugby season and had a very strong showing at the Can-Am series in Vancouver earlier this summer, narrowly missing the Canadian roster. A recent injury to Marie-Eve Brindamour-Carignan prompted the Canadian squad to activate MacDonald off the reserve roster.

MacDonald began her university career in her home province with the University of Prince Edward Island. While there, MacDonald was a CIS All-Canadian before transferring to the University of Lethbridge for her final two seasons. During her two years as a Horn, Ashley was a member of two conference and national champions, earning Canada West All-Star and CIS All-Canadian accolades during both seasons.

The 2010 edition will be the sixth Women's Rugby World Cup.

There are three pools of 12 teams scheduled to compete, each seeded according to the 2006 WRWC results. After the pool phase, teams will be re-seeded based on the position they finished in their respective pools.

Two venues will host the 2010 WRWC in London. Most of the matches will be played at the Surrey Sports Park. The Twickenham Stoop, home of the NEC Harlequins, will host the semifinals and finals.

Canada will play the opening match of the 2010 WRWC when they kickoff against Scotland, Friday, Aug. 20 at 5 a.m. (MST).