The University of Oregon Men’s Rugby team fell short last season in the College Rugby Association of America D1AA Sevens Championship. Though they went undefeated through most of the tournament, a first-game loss to the Iowa State University Cyclones kept the Ducks out of the semifinals, and the team had to wait another year to get back to the tournament.

In the 2026 rendition of the Sevens Championship, the Ducks and the Cyclones butted heads in Game 1 once more. In a chance to right the wrongs of last season, Oregon took control of their opponent, beating Iowa State to get the tournament started.

“I think that was a big point of emphasis,” team captain Liam Weir said. “Getting over that hurdle first thing Saturday morning, I think, inspired the team a lot and gave us a lot of opportunity and hope to then be like, ‘Okay, wait, we can really do this.’”

Playing first thing Saturday morning was not an easy task, especially because of the two-hour time change between Oregon and the Midwest, where the championship is played. The time change bit the Ducks last season as they were playing what felt like two hours earlier than what game time was.

To get over that hurdle, a lot was going to have to go into the Ducks preparation before they even considered the problem of the time change. First, they had to get back in Sevens condition.

“My big thing was like, ‘Hey guys, we need to do a lot of running,’” Weir said. “And I caught a lot of flack from a lot of my teammates because, you know, nobody wants to do running on Monday afternoon after a whole day of classes.”

Being a well-conditioned team is a must for competing in Sevens. Before the Sevens season, teams compete in a 15s season, which is a slower game of Rugby and played fall through winter. Weir described the 15s season as more of a game of chess, while Sevens is full steam ahead from the first whistle, so being well-prepared is a non-negotiable if a team wants to go the distance in the tournament.

That aspect of the game isn’t lost on junior Cormac O’Flaherty who, while also playing on the rugby team, is a walk-on for the Ducks football team.

“Both are major contact sports,” O’Flaherty said. “You can translate between the two (with) just the physical aspect of running, getting faster and getting stronger. That training part, I feel, was the biggest thing.”

With the conditioning side of the game under control, now the Ducks could tackle the time change. The best way the team found to combat it was to change the practice schedule. Weir and the team moved the practices up to earlier in the day to start at 6 a.m. PST so that the 9 a.m. CST game time didn’t feel too early for the Ducks.

“I think it really paid off. For one, getting everybody’s minds ready and getting everyone’s sleeping schedules adjusted, but then also to get the ball in your hands and be like, ‘Okay, wait, I can play this early in the morning and be completely fine,’” Weir said.

The Ducks were completely fine. This time around, they slipped past Iowa State in Game 1 33-24, then took it to the University of Wyoming and to Nebraska, beating them 33-19 and 33-10 respectively. One more game stood between the Ducks and the championship, a regional matchup between Oregon and Western Washington University.

Oregon blew by Western Washington, outscoring them 28-5. Finally, and fittingly, the Ducks were poised to once again go up against Iowa State, this time for the championship.

“We’re pretty familiar with Iowa State as a team,” Weir said. “That team specifically plays a style of rugby that we can kind of take advantage of if we’re on for the day.”

After their thrashing of Western Washington, the Ducks were riding the confidence of a team who knew they could get it done with one more strong game.

Oregon did just that. It put together a 26-21 win for the D1AA Sevens Championship.

“Just a lot of joy, a lot of smiling and messing with each other. Everyone was hugging, high fiving. There’s no better feeling, honestly,” Weir said. “I can’t really describe it because I think I was in a little bit of disbelief at the moment.”

Oregon finished the job. The confidence that was instilled in it following the win will carry it through the offseason, into 15s in the Fall and a potential repeat of Sevens next spring.