RLC River Rats End the Season on a High

Men’s Rugby Union finishes the season with a round-robin

On the kind of dark and rainy day that fits rugby best, the Reed-Lewis and Clark Men’s Rugby team competed in a round-robin competition with the Willamette University and Portland State University’s club rugby teams to cap off their fall rugby union season. 

In their first contest, the River Rats dominated Willamette to the tune of a 22-0 thrashing, utilizing their strong forward pack to score a total of four tries (rugby’s equivalent of a touchdown) whilst controlling the overall flow of the contest.

However, their second match of the day did not go nearly as smoothly as their first contest. This is partly due to the lack of rest between the two games, with the River Rats being provided a mere 10 minutes of rest (with a little extra time to get a dog off the field of play). This left the River Rats exhausted even before their match with Portland State began, resulting in a 22-7 loss for RLC to a pacy PSU who exploited RLC’s tired legs with the incredible speed of their Fly-Half.

This is not to say that the River Rats were simply trampled by superior opposition, in the second half, they managed to begin a comeback with a try of their own thanks in part to the distribution abilities of Lewis and Clark’s Daniel Pang, whose passing skill was noted even by PSU fans on the sidelines.

As mentioned prior, this day served as the end of the River Rat’s Rugby Union season. They’ll be back in the spring to compete in Rugby Sevens. The team will prepare during the winter and are eager to add more members, “it’s the perfect time to join the team now,” noted their coach. If you’re still looking for more rugby to watch, the RLC W+ team plans on having their next match on either this upcoming weekend or the weekend of December 2.