It’s early days yet but 1st in the  NCRC could well come down to this weekend’s Oregon v Western Washington game.

Both teams won big last weekend, and now will meet up in Eugene, Ore. this weekend.

Oregon Head Coach Pate Tuisue led his team to a 74-18 win over Washington State.

“We did OK,” said Tuisue. “We do have a few things to work on. Our forwards did a good job, especially when we ran the crashes off the breakdown. When we ran the ball and kept it with the forwards, we did well.”

WWU Head Coach Paul Horne was happy to see his team beat Oregon State 76-7. 

“The guys were pretty selfish in denying them the ball,” said Horne. “They played with a lot of resolve and our structure on defense was pretty good.”

No. 8 Nate Muir was a powerful presence on offense and he will be again. For WWU, the memory of losing the NCRC final to Washington will stick with them. They lost Lou Henson and Muir to injuries at a critical time last season, but have both back and want to make it count.

“The guys are motivated to take care of business this year,” said Horne. “They are really switched on, and with our depth I think we’re going to be good down the stretch. But the Ducks are a very good team and they will be a good test for us.”

WWU, added Oregon’s Tuisue, “are very disciplined and their backs move the ball well. They will be a challenge.”

Here are the current NCRC Standings. Clearly there's still a lot of rugby to be played.

This weekend's NCRC Games: