The Oregon men’s and women’s club rugby teams traveled to California this past weekend to participate in tournaments that featured some of the top Division I rugby teams in the nation.
For the fourth consecutive year, the men competed in the UCLA Pacific-10 Conference Tournament in Los Angeles, and for the fourth consecutive year the team showed signs of improvement. With a fourth-place finish over the weekend, the Ducks have now placed higher each year since the tournament’s inception in 2006.
The Ducks began the tournament with a matchup against the Cal Golden Bears, the nation’s No. 1 team. Trailing 8-7 at halftime, the Ducks looked poised to squander the Bears’ hopes of winning a fourth-straight UCLA Pac-10 Tournament Championship. Cal would claw its way back in the second half to hand Oregon its first loss of the tournament, 22-13, and win the tournament championship.
“I think we outplayed them,” said David Hoffenberg, the men’s rugby team coordinator.
After the loss to Cal, and Oregon’s B-team loss to tournament-host UCLA in the second game, the Ducks finished the tournament in convincing fashion by defeating Arizona 24-5. They clinched their fourth-place finish after a victory over USC, 22-12, in the Ducks’ final game of the weekend.
“The team played as well together as I have seen in my three years with the club,” Hoffenberg said.
The tournament featured Washington, Washington State, UCLA, California, USC, Arizona, Oregon State and Oregon.
Next up for the men is a match against Oregon Sports Union Rugby Club at Riverfront Field at noon on Saturday, Jan. 31. Oregon then resumes league play with another home game against Central Washington University on Feb. 7, and wraps up its 2009 regular season schedule with the Civil War at home on March 14.
The women’s club rugby team had a strong showing over the weekend, placing fourth in the Stanford Invitation in Palo Alto, Calif., and defeating defending national champion Stanford. The tournament included teams from New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, California and Oregon.
On its way to a 4-2 tournament record, Oregon defeated the University of Wyoming and Pac-10 foes UCLA and OSU. No victory, however, was as impressive as the Ducks’ 10-5 upset against Stanford, who eventually went on to win the tournament. According to a recap of the tournament on Stanford’s women’s rugby Web site, “Oregon’s size and sheer desire for the ball helped them disrupt Stanford’s scrums and dominate rucks.”
The women lost to New Mexico and Chico State, who Stanford defeated in the championship game, 26-0.
The women will head to Seattle for a match against the Washington Huskies on Saturday, Feb. 7, and will finish league play with Civil War at Riverfront Field on Saturday, March 7.
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