Going into week seven in the Northwest Collegiate Rugby Conference, most teams are right where they were projected, but all have plenty of time to fix what needs fixing.

The Pullman-Moscow rivalry continues when the University of Idaho takes on the Washington State Cougars in Pullman. Despite their record (0-1-1) the Cougars still have a lot left in the tank. Both their games have been against top tier teams in a tie to Eastern Washington (3^rd place) and suspected blowout to the University of British Columbia (1^st place).

Now they will face an up and coming Vandal squad who has stormed into the league in their first year at 1-1 while averaging 21 points per game. Their surge has been lead by their outstanding flyhalf Philip Vrontamitis whose leg has been solid all year including last week when he was a perfect 4-4 on conversion kicks.

The Cougars will look to attack with a balanced squad that features prop Robert Marquez and inside center Jordan Rehwaldt.

Western Washington (0-2) travels way south to take on the defending league champions Oregon State Beavers. Western is coming off some tough losses to Central and Idaho so far this year, but coach Collin Campbell knows that building off the positive things will be  crucial both physically and mentally.

Oregon State has had a lot of time off and is eager to get back to pitch and building off a tense battle with UBC, which the Beavers won 17-15. Head coach Mark Webber and Anthony Lally are aware of their target, but says his players are ready for anything that will be thrown at them this weekend.

In Ellensburg, the Washington Huskies (1-1) will take on the Central Washington Wildcats (1-1). The Wildcats have done their best with the schedule they’ve been dealt. Their league opener was a blowout loss to UBC. But the CWU team, which, like UBC< is actually the 2^nd side for this top program, got a victory against Western three weeks ago. They haven’t done much since, as last weekend’s game was postponed.

But they’re back on the field this now. CWU will face a tough Husky squad that beat Oregon handily. Both coaches know a win could catapult them from the cellar back into league contention. UW is lead by speedy scrumhalf Justin Santos, while CWU will be looking to a number of young players to pick up the slack as their 1sts prepare for the D1-A season.

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