It was a great day of rugby, there was some fun dancing and an auction Saturday at the University of Idaho Alumni Rugby Reunion hosted by the ASUI rugby club.
The UI rugby club, the UI alumni, WSU, BSU and the Missoula Maggots were the five teams that participated this year, ex-coach and alumni co-coordinator Joe McGurkin said U of I showed what a dominant club they are becoming.
“The present team went undefeated Saturday in play and is the best I have seen here in 30 years,” McGurkin said.
President of the UI rugby club and starting flanker Zack Hood said that this was a perfect chance to prepare for upcoming games.
“Our team got to work on the little fine tuning points that it needed to be ready for the upcoming D1 season,” Hood said.
He said that every team had a great time. Hood said, he had a “great time with a lot of great people.”
“It was a grand affair and it was one of the best tournaments I played in and was just a lot of fun to play some good teams at home,” Hood said.
Possibly the most anticipated match-up for the fans at each reunion is the final match of the day where the current UI rugby club plays the alumni.
McGurkin said the match was well attended and that there were a large amount of spectators on the sideline. He said they witnessed annihilation.
“The present team killed us by many, many points but we all shake hands and give each other a big hug after the match and historically sing “God Bless America” as one large group,” McGurkin said.
The dance and the auction were held after the matches and were designed to raise money for the men’s and women’s rugby teams. McGurkin said that they were able to raise over $1000 for both teams this year and, their seventh reunion will go down as a great success on and off the field.
McGurkin is a current sponsor of the team through his company, Moscow Realty. He said that he is in charge of getting the “old boys” here from all over the world for the event every five years.
“It is always a huge success with the only problem being is that the older you get the longer it takes the bruises to go away,”