The Oregon men’s club rugby team opened its conference season with two wins and three losses at the Pac-10 Tournament in Los Angeles last weekend.
All Pac-10 teams were represented in the tournament hosted by UCLA. The Ducks shook off opening-day losses to California’s varsity squad, 23-3, and to fellow Pacific Northwest Rugby Football Union team Washington State, 17-16, by edging Arizona 19-17 and USC 15-10.
“We did an extremely good job just learning the game the past couple of months, and it all accumulated this weekend,” said team coordinator Kyle McKenzie, who is in his third year with the club team. “We see now that we can be a very good team in this league.”
On Sunday, Oregon battled in-state rival Oregon State, in a regulation match of two PNRFU teams with similar records, and lost 15-5.
“We took it to OSU like they had never seen it before,” McKenzie said. “We played well, especially with so many games in a short period of time.”
The club team, which played in five practice games in the fall, has a roster of 35 players and is still looking to add new players. On Feb. 3, they play Washington at noon at Riverfront Field in Eugene.
– Dan Jones