The only thing stopping the Penn State women's rugby team so far this spring has been Mother Nature.

Coming off a fall campaign that saw the Lady Ruggers end with the No. 1 ranking in the Potomac Rugby Union, the Ruggers have continued their success early this spring, with wins over Virginia Tech and Virginia in the Mid Atlantic Rugby Football Union (MARFU) tournament by a combined score of 178-0.

However, the weather has robbed the Ruggers of two matches, including the MARFU championship match against Navy last weekend.

More importantly, the Ruggers have lost valuable practice time and have had a hard time finding any place to practice at all.

"It's been really hard," Penn State women's rugby coach Peter Steinberg said.

"The biggest challenge is trying to find practice facilities and times. We haven't yet been able to get out and practice yet."

The lack of quality practice, according to Steinberg, has put the Ruggers at a "real disadvantage" against the teams located in warmer climates.

Despite the weather and odd practice times, the Ruggers have been downright dominant in their first two matches.

"I thought [the first two matches] went well considering the lack of practice," captain Devon Boyle said. "I think everyone is responding well."

The Ruggers are responding well thanks in part to the spring break tour that the team took during the week of March 8-16 to France, where they were able to play outdoors against seasoned competition.

Over there, rugby is life.

"We learned from people who have played the game since they were little," Boyle said. "It was really important for helping us to learn the game."

For the team to be successful this spring, however, the Ruggers will need to learn quickly.

For many, the playoffs and national competitions will be a whole new ballgame.

Steinberg said he expects the team to have a "pretty good learning curve" this spring.

"I think we need to continue on developing because we're a young team," Lady Rugger Kirsten Aerts said. "I don't think we have reached our peak yet."

Among the things Steinberg said the team needs to work on are its scrums and lineups, noting that the team is small but that once it gets the ball, he is confident the team can do good things with it.

The next chance for the Ruggers to show their stuff is this weekend against Navy in the MARFU finals, which will determine the team's seed for the upcoming Sweet 16 playoffs in just over two weeks.

Despite the lack of a set schedule or ideal weather, the Ruggers are confident they can defeat a team that they went 1-1-1 against in the fall, and the same team they defeated in the semi-finals of last year's National Championships.

"I expect to win," Boyle said. "I don't see any reason why if we play our game and pick up the pace a little that we shouldn't be successful."

They just have to outrun Mother Nature first.