History was made in style this weekend as the first ever Pac-10
rugby tournament was a success on numerous levels.
“The UCLA rugby side and recreation center did a fantastic
job in organizing this event which will without a doubt be the
first of many to come,” former UCLA and USA National Team
coach Dennis Storer said.
All of the teams involved were scheduled to play four 40-minute
games in the first round on Saturday, and UCLA won three of its
first four matches. After defeating Arizona 19-15 in their first
game, the Bruins drubbed Stanford 31-5 in what was their most
notable performance of the weekend.
“I thought the score was going to be closer than
that,” UCLA coach Scott Stewart said.
“Stanford is a good side, and although the guys were
getting tired, I was happy with their performance.”
“We were competitive and played good defense, but UCLA put
in some very good tries, three of those on interception,”
Stanford coach Jonathan Griffin said.
When interceptions occur, there is not much the opponent can do
but try to catch up, and the Cardinal certainly could not match up
with Bruin freshman lock Jimmy Reid, who scored two of UCLA’s
tries by interception. Reid, whose brothers and father were
involved in rugby as well, displayed speed not often witnessed in
players at the lock position.
After defeating Stanford to finish the morning session, the
Bruins defeated Oregon 17-10 before losing to Washington State 35-0
in the afternoon matches.
Last year’s national champion California was impressive
throughout the day, dominating all of their opponents. The Bears
only took part in three of their four scheduled meetings as Arizona
State forfeited their match against Cal.
“We are obviously disappointed with (ASU’s)
decision,” Bears coach Jack Clark said. “Beyond
victory, we came here to play a lot of rugby and so it was
upsetting to miss out on 40 minutes of it.”
The final round on Sunday ended with UCLA taking fourth place in
the tournament after losing to Oregon State 24-21 in the
third-place game. Although the Bruins picked up the pace in the
second half scoring great tries, Oregon State scored in the last
minutes of the game to eventually claim third place.
“We lost this game by giving away too many penalties and
turnovers,” Stewart said. “But we played with great
spirit, and it was overall a very good weekend.”
California took the trophy home, beating Washington State in a
hotly contested championship game in which Cal’s coach Clark
was ejected during the first half for arguing with the
officials.
Washington State started off with great speed and aggressiveness
allowing the Bears only one try in the first half. But the Cougars
seemed to run out of steam in the second half, committing more
errors and losing physical battles, which ultimately led to a 27-6
Cal victory.
“It was a physical game and we were able to make technical
corrections,” said Cal assistant coach Tom Billups. “I
am happy with the character shown, and this is a good start to our
season.”
The Bruins will have their first Southern California division
game this coming weekend on Jan. 28 against Cal Poly San Luis
Obispo.