The Thunderbirds men’s rugby team are in England this week competing against seven other university teams from around the world in the first-ever World University Rugby Cup (WURC). One of the oldest universities in the world, Oxford University will play host to these top ranked teams.
The invitational tournament includes eight universities from across the globe including Trinity College Dublin (Ireland), University of Cape Town (South Africa), New Zealand Universities (New Zealand), Waseda University (Japan), Stanford University (USA), Siberian Federal University (Russia) and our very own Thunderbirds.
“We were invited because I think we are the number one ranked university in North America. We beat University of Victoria in two games last year for the Wightman’s Boot, we beat the University of California, Berkley twice for the World Cup and we won the BC Rugby Union CDI Premiership League and the playoffs. So we are the best team currently ranked in British Columbia amongst senior men's teams,” said Dave Brown, rugby general manager.
The universities will be divided into two pools. The Thunderbirds played against New Zealand Universities -- surprising everyone with a 20-10 win -- and Trinity College Dublin, losing 8-0. The Thunderbirds will play a final game in their pool on September 18 against Siberian Federal University.
Semifinal games were played Friday afternoon — UBC vs. University of Cape Town and Oxford University vs. Trinity College Dublin. UBC fell 24-12 to Cape Town and will now compete for a third place finish against Oxford University on September 21. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:00pm, local time. The finals will pit University of Cape Town against Trinity College of Dublin and the winner will determine the first WURC champion.
“I think any chance you get to compete against universities from other parts of the world you can test where you’re at from a technical performance perspective.... Staying in a university that is 600-plus years old is a tremendous experience for the players and to rub shoulders with players from South Africa, from New Zealand, from Japan… it’s just again a great experience for everybody involved,” says Brown.
UBC defeated Oxford earlier today, 18 to 14, to take home third place.
The tournament hopes to take place every four years in line with the Rugby World Cup.
The Thunderbirds return home September 22.
This article was updated at 5:00pm on September 21 to include the semifinal and final results