History of the Beaver Rugby Team

From BeavrWiki

The Oregon State University Rugby Club started in 1962. The coach at that time was Dr. Murray Dawson, a native New Zealander and a soil sciences professor at Oregon State. The team was consisted of many varsity players who wanted to participate in Rugby during their off season or on the side. In 1966, the Oregon State team and the University of Oregon team joined together and toured Wales and England. In 1974, Woody Bennett, a former OSU Rugby player, started coaching the team and began to have a great success winning up and down the West Coast. That same year, Oregon State took their second tour to once again Wales and England.

In 1980, Mark Webber, another former OSU Rugby player, took over for Bennet. That same year, the Pacific Northwest Rugby Union Collegiate Conference was formed and was won by OSU. The next six years the Beavers were repeated Pacific Northwest Champions eventually losing to the National Champion, University of California. Webber continued to coach untill 2005, with having the Beavers winning the Northwest Championship 17 times and finished 2nd 5 times. Along with those great finishes in the Northwest Championship, the team tied for 5th place nationally 3 times, and having 3 players being on the All Americans and 3 players going on to play for the Eagles. Oregon State has traveled on tours in Wales, England, Scotland, New Zealand, Australia, and Ireland.

In 2005, Mark Webber resined as head coach to leave for Duffin McShane, a former player of Webber. Coach McShane is currently assisted by coach Webber, coach Ben Figard, coach Justin Craig, and coach Dave Dixon.