It is going to be the Ducks against the Ducks this weekend.
It is not another football scrimmage but the annual alumni match for the Oregon Club Sports men’s and women’s rugby teams.
Bob Pierce, an Oregon graduate who was selected as an all-collegiate American in 1993, said the men’s match has been going on for at least 50 years. It is special not only because of its history but because the alumni get a chance to reunite with their old teammates and play against the younger, more physical team that won the Pacific Northwest league this season.
It’s not as if the alumni team is an old-timers team that quit playing years ago. Actually, most of the players on the alumni team still play on various city club teams. Pierce himself plays for the Eugene men’s team with several other former Ducks.
“The Ducks may be younger, faster and more physical,” he said, “but we are smarter. We are going to show that the older guys are better than the younger guys.”
The winner of the match gets to keep the Clegg Cup, a silver cup named after former Oregon coach Ben Clegg.
“He dedicated a lot of his time and energy to rebuild the Oregon rugby program into a very good program, and we appreciate that,” Pierce said.
According to Pierce, last year’s match was a draw, but the younger Ducks do not agree and claim they won for the second year in a row. Alumni matches are typical of rugby clubs, which are famous for their close bonds among players, the reason that many players continue to play this physically punishing sport.
“You can play rugby until your wife tells you not to, but even then, you can occasionally sneak out and play,” Pierce said.
The alumni match usually draws a crowd of about 100-200 spectators which consists of player’s parents, children, wives, girlfriends and friends. Considering that regular season matches draw around 30 spectators, this is a relatively large crowd.
“The most important thing about this match is to have fun,” Pierce said. “We’re going to have a crazy time.”
For the women’s team, this is going to be the first alumna match since the team’s inception in 1998. The women’s team also had a successful season, finishing second in the Pacific Northwest and putting up a successful showing at the Santa Barbara Invitational two weeks ago.
“We’re really looking forward to playing this weekend because we played the best game this season in Santa Barbara,” senior Kathy Gabrielidis said.
The women’s game is scheduled at 11 a.m. and the men’s at 1 p.m. Saturday at the intramural field.

Triathletes successful
Fourteen members of the Oregon Club Sports Triathalon team were among the more than 2,500 to compete in one the biggest — if not the biggest — competitions in the world.
Four athletes highlighted the Ducks efforts at the national collegiate competition in San Luis Obispo, Calif. Hailey Foster finished 32nd, and Ashley Collins came in 34th out of 150 competitors in the women’s college field.
And on the men’s side Zach Winter finished 32nd and Brian Fuentes came in 43rd.