User:Exjex/Eugene Gentlemen

Eugene RFC is a Division III team in the Pacific Northwest Rugby Football Union, our local area union, and a member of the Pacific Coast Rugby Football Union (the Grizzlies), our territorial union (which includes the Pacific Northwest, the Arizona Rugby Union, Great Basin, and the Northern California RFU). We are also a member of the United States Rugby Football Union (the Eagles).

The Gentlemanly Early Years
Eugene Rugby Football Club was established in 1973 by Ross Shepard, et. al. During the early years the club used the "Gentlemen" as its moniker, created by the infamous Neil "The Hutt" LaFlamme (aka "The Round Mound of Sound").

Rugby languished in Eugene in the mid-80's. The decline of the old club was due to Eugene-Springfield almost drying up from the 1982 recession. Mills closed, jobs disappeared, and no one except students moved into the area for a number of years. There were literally no new homes built in the area for nearly 10 years. It's probably a wonder that those remaining kept the club going as long as they did. It was a little depressing for awhile, but Eugene's a great town.

The Phantoms. The Phantoms came into being when Craig "Wags" Parish, Jon Greenlee, Greg Ferrell and a couple of others resurrected the 8th Annual Eugene 10's Tournament in September 1988. Their motto was "Now you see us, now you don't," since some of the team's players would mysteriously be absent from matches. Eugene was able to round up enough old and new bodies to put together a decent 10's side, and they hoped they could springboard from there to resurrect the club. Eugene even borrowed a couple of opposing players to play a few fixtures in Fall '88 but couldn't keep it going.

The New Era
Jon Greenlee and some of the other Phantoms moved at the end of 1988 and early 1989, and rugby in Eugene again languished until Bob Snyder moved from Portland and ORSU to Eugene in 1991. He provided the impetus to resurrect the Eugene RFC and to greatly improve UO rugby. In 1992, Bob Snyder, Steve Knauss, and Jason Waterman were traveling to Portland to play for ORSU. All three players were starting for the 1st IV in the first division. Nonetheless, they were fast becoming sick of the travel commitments and decided to resurrect the Eugene Club. Snyder, Knauss, Waterman, Rich Miller, Marshall Waterman, and Alan Still spent many an evening planning the resurrection of the club in Alan Still's kitchen. They discussed everything from player rosters to budget matters. They ultimately decided to drop the Phantoms moniker.

1994 Pacific Coast Championships. In '93 Eugene went to Bend on the final Saturday of the season to decide who went to regionals. Bend had beaten Eugene by one point with a try and conversion in Eugene. Eugene had to beat them by two points in Bend to go to Santa Rosa for regionals.

The players arrived in Bend on Friday night and stayed in a hotel paid for by Bob Snyder on the condition that they didn't talk to the ref on game day. A few players went to a bar frequented by Bend RFC to have a beer and play some pool. Legend has it that they were confronted by some Bend supporters who enjoyed telling them how bad Eugene was going to get beaten the next day. They also offered the Eugene players free beer which was declined. They aborbed the trash talk with oaths of "we'll see at 1pm."

The 1994 squad put up big numbers against Bend RFC at Bend, winning 30-10. They then proceeded to the Pacific Coast Championships in Santa Rosa, which hasn't been accomplished since. The Bend game included some memorable moments: Jim Cusik's stitches due to Joe stomping his head in a ruck (legend says it was unprovoked); Steve Knauss punched in the head from behind (legend says Knauss provoked that); Matt Weadik also punched in the head from behind by Fox because Fox took exception to Matt trying to block a kick.

At Regionals, Eugne lost to San Fernando Valleyand then beat Skyline RFC for 3rd in the Pacific Coast. In 1995 Eugene smashed Bend 40-0 in a tournament in Portland to advance to a qualifying round with Santa Rosa in Seattle for the Pac. Coast Playoffs. Unfortunately Eugene lost to Santa Rosa).

The Millennium Arrives
The mid-1990's saw the arrival of UO rugby alum Bob Pierce, who led the team as president from 1998-2000. In 1997, Ben Clegg established the first ERFC website, which included many of archived photos and a fairly famous rugby quiz.

In 1999, Mike Arnold took over the website duties and established the EugeneRugby.com domain. The late 1990s saw sparse practice attendance and trouble with the attendance at away games, due in part to a schedule with virtually no non-league matches (the fall of 2000 only had two matches). In the spring of 2001, Arnold took over duties of match secretary and added several friendlies to the previous D3-only schedule. This larger schedule, coupled with Bob Pierce and other veteran players like Duke Allen and Erik Pakulak, saw team numbers grow.

In September of 2001, Sean Peters was appointed coach of ERFC and a new competitive life was breathed back into the squad. The team became more disciplined and more structured on the field and saw their first victory against Bend RFC in several years, when they squeaked by with a 16-14 victory at home.

Frustrated with lack of tournaments in the Pacific Northwest, Arnold reestablished the once famous Eugene 10's Tournament in 2002. The 2002-03 season, under Coach Peters' leadership, saw an even larger victory over Bend at home with a 33-21 win. Eugene had big hopes in the spring of 2003 and dominated Bend away for the first time in many years. However, it wasn't enough to overcome their ferocious defense, when Bend again dashed Eugene's hopes to make its first appearance in post-season play since 1994.

The Future
As of the Spring of 2006, ERFC has outstanding turnout and as youth becomes experience, will make a strong effort to either move up a division, or dominate the one we're in. We're always looking for players (with or without experience) to join the competition--all shapes and sizes welcome. We've just secured sponsorship from Fosters Beer, and with it, we'll have new sublimated acrylic jerseys. Today, Eugene RFC serves the southern Willamette Valley with players stretching from Silverton to Medford.