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UW Win a Harbinger of Bigger Things as NCRC Hits Semis?

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UW Win a Harbinger of Bigger Things as NCRC Hits Semis?

University of Washington in action this past fall.

Well this past weekend churned up the NCRC, even as the playoff berths were clinched.

Western Washington went into the weekend at 4-1 and in position to clinch 1st in the NCRC North, but instead lost to Oregon 18-12.

That was on the heels of a strangely close 17-15 loss to the University of Washington.

Was that a fluke? UW proved it wasn’t, logging the Huskies’ first conference victory of the season, a 62-14 pasting of Oregon State.

That’s not enough to change the playoff picture too much. Boise State has the South wrapped out, with Washington State 2nd, and Oregon is #1 in the North and will face WSU in the semis, while WWU takes on 6-0 Boise State.

But it’s worth a look at Washington. In the Huskies’ first three games of the season, they were 0-3 with an average score of 10-33. Then they played Oregon close in November, and WWU close in February. In the end, they are 1-2 in the second half with an average score of 29-19. Flanker Maaveava Petaia scored two tries. The other flanker, Milo Welch, notched 13 points with the boot. Center Finbar Aherne also scored two tries.

The turnaround coincided with some visits from Seattle Seawolves players, who ran several coaching sessions. 

It has also coincided with some lineup shifts. The front row of William Fulton, Euiseok Jeong, and Jakob Mathison has been largely unchanged all season, and the second row partnership of Jackson Fredman and James Gardner has been solid, implying that the basics of winning and securing possession have been satisfactory.

But elsewhere there have been changes. Petaia was the team’s outside center, but shifting him to openside flanker has allowed him a chance to use his physicality and get more involved in the play. Paul Ricke has taken over at scrumhalf, while both Milo and and Tim Molony have taken time at flyhalf, also a lineup change.

Finally, Hyunjin Lee has taken over the fullback position.

So that’s five positions that have seen a complete change in the middle of the season. And suddenly UW is on the winning side—their first league win in three years.

This is good news for the NCRC. The conference benefits from a high-profile school like the University of Washington being good at rugby. The UW program was once one of the best on the West Coast. They have work to do to get back to that level, but it's a start.