Western Washington University Men’s rugby team dominated University of Oregon Ducks, with a first half shut out on Sat. Jan. 30. The Vikings beat the Ducks 49-7 at their spring season home opener, holding a shut out for the first 62 minutes of the game. The game’s first few possessions went back and forth making it seem like it would be a defensive game. The Vikings’ first points came eight minutes into the game with a drop goal scored. After that the tries piled on driving the score up to 27-0 at halftime. At the start of the second half the Ducks came out strong driving down the field until the Vikings stole a pass and returned it for a try. With their only flaw as missing a few conversion kicks, the Vikings didn’t make any other mistakes in this match. The Vikings’ head coach Paul Horne was proud of his team and how they played. “We got off to a good start and our structure seemed to be a lot better than theirs in terms of playing to our pattern,” Horne said. Joshua Reiner, a member of the Vikings team on injured reserve, said that the game was won due to the teamwork and trust the between the players. “It puts us in a great advantage,” Reiner said. For junior Nicole Peden, this was her first time watching a Vikings’ rugby game and she said she was very impressed. “I didn’t always know what was going on, but the atmosphere was great and the team played hard,” Peden said. The Vikings are the defending Northwest Collegiate Rugby Conference champions and are looking to make another championship run this season. “We are looking forward to a great season, we have a very good group of young players,” Horne said. The next two games for the Vikings are away at Eastern Washington University on Feb. 2, and at Gonzaga University on Feb. 7. The next home game for the Vikings is on Feb. 20, against Washington State University.
