David Blinderman wants the Oregon men’s club rugby team to remember one thing on game day: “Bring the ruckus.”
Blinderman, a fly-half on the team, has seen the intensity that his teammates bring out in practice and wants them to duplicate that in games. They’ll get their first chance in 2011 to try out that mantra as they head to UCLA for the Dennis Storer Classic this weekend, the conference tournament for rugby teams of Pac-10 schools.
With the first half of the season in the rearview and a 2-4 record to show, including a disappointing loss to Oregon State in its last game, the team hopes for a change in fortunes in the new year.
Oregon has experienced moderate success in past showings at the tournament. Team president and flanker Brian Maxson described the Ducks’ history at the tournament as “streaky.”
“We’ve had some success, but we’re looking forward to a strong presence this year,” Maxson said. “We really can’t wait to get down there.”
The eight-team field comprises six of the conference’s current schools, with Cal splitting into two teams in addition to future conference member Utah joining in.
The Ducks are expecting tough competition from every team, particularly UCLA, Arizona and Cal.
“They’ve got a lot of team cohesion,” hooker Tom Watson said about the tournament field. “They’ve been practicing and playing a lot together, so they know each other. They have good chemistry.”
Defending tournament champion Cal will be an especially tough opponent. Not only is Cal the only team in the tournament that participates at the varsity level, but it has also been the top program in the country for over the last three decades, winning 25 national championships in the 31 years that the award has been given.
It’s easy for some to see the Golden Bears, with their dominant stature on the highest level, as an unfair matchup for mere club teams in the tournament, but not the Ducks. In fact, they welcome the opportunity.
“We actually look forward to it every year,” Blinderman said about playing Cal. “If they’re a true rugby program that has great professional coaching, you can measure yourself as a club team against them.”
Last year, despite a loss, Oregon managed to be the only team in the tournament to score against Cal, according to Maxson.
The tournament is always a big weekend on the schedule for the Ducks. The team, whose practice schedule includes meeting twice a week at 6:30 a.m., has accordingly stepped up their practice habits.
“It’s hell,” Maxson said. “We’ve been conditioning a lot. Some of these boys, including myself, are in the best shape of their lives.”
Along with extra conditioning, the Ducks have elevated the amount of aggression and physicality in drills and set pieces.
“We’re getting the whole team just really excited,” Watson said. “They like hitting now. We’re getting the mentality to go out and hit someone. I feel like that’s part of the game.”
Blinderman said the increased level of contact is to improve the team’s defense, an aspect of the game that he thinks needs to be on point.
“When we score, we score fast,” he said. “But that’s the problem because we end up playing so much defense.”
The team’s short possessions can be attributed to one weakness the team can’t help: its lack of size. Smaller teams can’t control possession of the ball as well as bigger teams, leaving the Ducks to play elongated stints of defense.
Another improvement the Ducks want to make is keeping their confidence up in games. Maxson said simple mistakes sometimes lead to a loss in team momentum.
Maxson believes that the team’s strengths are the players’ stamina, quickness and mental toughness. If the Ducks are able to capitalize on those assets, while continuing to improve in practice and minimize mistakes, the team expects positive results.
“We just try to play our game,” Maxson said. “We try to play good, fundamental rugby and stick to our game, go down there and try to bring our best.
“As long as we don’t shoot ourselves in the foot, we can do some damage.”
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