Although the Oregon’s men’s club rugby team found itself on the losing end of a 34-3 to the University of Victoria on Friday, the Ducks were in an upbeat mood after the game ended.
No, the Ducks weren’t happy that they lost, but they were thrilled with the competitive spirit and heart they exhibited in going toe to toe with one of the better collegiate rugby teams around.
“I was incredibly pleased with how well our team played considering Victoria is the third-best college club in North America and is one of the most respected clubs among the Canadian schools,” club coordinator David Hoffenberg said.
Even though the Vikes sent many of their younger players to take on the Ducks, their talent level still surpassed anything the Ducks had seen this season. Several players from Victoria had been selected for the Canadian National Team, and another played at a high level of competition in New Zealand last year.
And unfortunately for Oregon, that talent discrepancy became apparent early on. After the Ducks were able to hold off Victoria from scoring for the first 10 minutes, the Canadian visitors began to impose their will, scoring 29 unanswered points before the first half came to a merciful end.
“I think our A-side (starters) were a little bit out of shape playing against a really top A-Side in midseason form,” Hoffenberg said.
Despite trailing 29-0 at the break, Oregon’s fortunes took a turn for the better in the second half. After head coach Tim Wilkinson inserted some substitutes, Oregon came out and played with renewed energy and vigor.
“I’m very proud of how we bounced back and how we kept our cool under the weather and under the stress of playing a team that doesn’t play colleges,” Wilkinson said. “They play in two men’s leagues.”
In the second half, the Ducks held Victoria to only five points, while wing Ethan Bitzer scored a three-point goal to get Oregon on the board.
And even though Oregon ended up losing by 31 points, Wilkinson thinks his team’s performance against a team like Victoria will boost Oregon into the second half of league play.
“I think this is an incredibly positive boost that we need,” Wilkinson said. “What we try to do as a system and how we play proved to work against them, which I think is going to put a lot more confidence into people — that the way I want them to play is the way they should play, not forgetting everything once they get onto the field.”
After going 1-3 in the first half in league play (the match against Victoria was a “friendly” match and doesn’t count towards league standings), it is critical that the Ducks have a strong showing in the remaining four games if they wish to be one of three teams in the eight-team Pacific Northwest Rugby Football Union (PNRFU) to qualify for the regional playoffs.
“We still could qualify for playoffs but we’re on the back end of it right now,” Hoffenberg said. ” We’d have to at least beat everybody but Central Washington, who is the number one team in our league, but we’d also have to do well in the point differential to earn it that way. Otherwise, we’d have to win out.”
To do that, the Ducks will need contributions from starters and substitutes alike.
“It really is teamwork,” Oregon captain Brian Maxson said. “When we work together and everyone is playing their game then other guys are going to see that come in step it up and really hit it hard.”
Hoffenberg also said that the Ducks might try to capitalize on the momentum generated by the team’s strong showing in the second half against Victoria by giving some of the squad’s younger players more playing time.
Looking forward, the Ducks host the Washington Huskies this Saturday at Riverfront Field before closing PNRFU play with matches against Washington State, Central Washington and Oregon State.
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