Match Report: University of Oregon

Once again the Dawgs traveled home 1-1 from Oregon, with the 2nd XV Killer B's coming away with a 22-0 win, and the 1st XV falling well short of their potential.

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In one of the most disappointing results in the past couple of years, we allowed Oregon to get the better of us on a beautiful Eugene day. A late decision to not roster injured vice Captain Owen Prentice, and losing Pepi Dostal (our game day captain) 10 minutes in, were massive blows to morale. Already deep in our bench, it has been a shocking quarter of injuries, some unlucky and some clearly the result of a failure to meet strength and conditioning standards. A massive drop off at training due to the 3+ week long respiratory sicknesses that have hammered the team has meant that some players starting on Saturdays have been too sick to train during the week. Top recruits have gone out with injuries in the past few weeks, and yesterday's man of the match Rylan Reinebach also came off before the final whistle with a strained hamstring. Injuries incurred yesterday create an increasing challenge heading into next week's match vs WWU, clearly the dominant team in the conference who has beaten each team by a margin of 30 points or more, with 66-0 and 36-0 shutouts over both OSU and UO, respectively.

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In the position we currently are, it's a daunting task ahead and we need to grit our teeth through the weekend and finish out the quarter.

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Positives of the day: Our forwards dominated in the scrum again and again. The backs had great foundational play for much of the game, some of the best we've seen, though these phases weren't finished over the try line, instead were often into touch on the narrow middle school field. Team and individual defense was a shocker, soak tackles giving Oregon the front foot, and breakaways almost always resulting in tries.

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Time to dig deep and finish out the quarter with our pride intact - we need to celebrate the small wins of the next week, and team leaders will have to align expectations and aspirations during the break.