Western Washington and Boise State both laid down markets in the split NCRC this week.

Boise State, led by a powerful performance from second row Bennett Mantz, and with scrumhalf Kyle Curry running the show and Andrew Bergey having a superb game defensively and scoring a spectacular try, beat Oregon State 39-5. OSU was ranked #32 in DIAA by Goff Rugby Report while Boise State wasn't ranked at all.

The key to the strong start from the Broncos, said Curry, was training time. Being only able to practice a little during the COVID shutdown, the team felt they needed to make up for lost time.

"We had a sort of boot camp at the beginning of the season," said Curry. "For the first two weeks of school we practiced Monday through Friday, from 6PM to 9PM. I think that put us ahead of the curve compared to other teams."

With 30 hours of practice under their belts before the season was even close to starting allowed Boise State to work through the rust.

"Some of it looked a little rough," said Curry. "But it was good for us."

Against Oregon State, the Boise players resolved to clamp down on the Beavers' backline. They rushed up quickly and made their tackles, and the ball rarely, if ever, got to the wing. Bergey, who also scored a try by catching the second-half kickoff and just weaving through everyone like it was a football game, was massive defensively at inside center.

Meanwhile, with ball in hand the Broncos liked to use offloads out of contact, and with smart support running they were able to make multiple passes on each run, getting past the OSU gainline as a result. 

"Some of our tries went through five or six pairs of hands," said Curry, who was a dynamo at scrumhalf.

Boise State, therefore, looks in good shape. Oddly, most of their players are from California, not locally. That's partly because a good student can get enough scholarship money from the school to make Boise State less expensive than in-state tuition in California. That has certainly served to diversify the rugby team.

Western Washington, meanwhile, shut out the University of Washington 85-0, scoring 13 tries. Flyhalf Max Stone directed the attack nicely and kicked ten conversions.

"We're a young team getting better each week," said Director of Rugby Paul Horne. 

Several of the WWU starters and freshmen, but they've been able to execute, and they have logged a couple of wins over local men's clubs to get started.

The NCRC is split into two pools of three. The Boise State-Oregon State-Washington State group are affiliated with USA Rugby (OSU is also a member of NCR). The WWU-UW-Oregon group is affiliated with NCR. So they weren't quite sure if they could play each other (depends who you ask). There might be a crossover playoff.