Western Washington University is located in Bellingham, Washington in the scenic Northwest. The rugby team was formed in 1955; giving the Vikings a 57 year of tradition of on-field excellence. The Vikings compete in the Northwest Collegiate Rugby Conference in both 7s and 15s. They qualified for the USA Collegiate 7s National Championships in 2011, finishing 13th. The program is under the leadership of Director of Rugby Paul Horne (who is also the Canadian national team U21-U23 head coach). The WWU 7s squad is coached by Adam Roberts, a former Canadian age-grade representative player, and current skills coach with their age-grade squad.
This fall the Vikings have performed well in 7s tournaments, finishing second in the Palouse 7s and the NCRC 7s Championships losing only to powerhouse Central Washington University. In the Palouse 7s the Vikings went undefeated in pool play and then beat host Washington State 59-0 in the quarterfinals. They went on to win a very tight match against University of British Columbia-Okanaga 19-17 in the semi-finals before going down to Central in the final 29-12.
At the NCRC 7s Championships, WWU defeated Boise State 40-0 and Washington State 31-0 in pool play before smashing University of Oregon 52-5 in a quarterfinal. They managed a thrilling 22-17 sudden-death overtime win against Oregon State in the semi-final before getting beaten by Central Washington 46-14 in the final. As a result of their tournament performances, the Vikings recieved an at-large bid to the national championships.
The Vikings have a number of weapons to include NCRC All-Conference players Quinton Willms and Gavri Grossman. Grossman led all scorers at the NCRC tournament with 46 points, followed by Willm's 44 points (8 tries). Team captain Matt Jenson and Nate Muir also add punch to the WWU attack. Muir has recently returned to action after suffering a severe ankle injury over the summer.
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