VICTORIA, B.C. – It's all a-Boot pride and tradition.

One of the fiercest and longest standing rivalries in Canadian intercollegiate rugby will resume this weekend when the Victoria Vikes men's rugby team host the UBC Thunderbirds on Saturday Jan. 22 at 2 p.m. at Centennial Stadium in the first of the two-leg Wightman Boot Competition.

The competition, more simply referred to as "The Boot", is named after the late Brian Wightman who was a former English player who coached at UBC from 1964-67. The trophy features Wightman's old boot, which was stolen by players and bronzed.

The annual Boot is played between UBC and UVic with the winner decided by the team with more points in the two-game series. Originally, the series was played between UBC and Simon Fraser and UBC and Stanford.

This year, the second leg will be played at UBC in March. UVic has won the past 13 Boots, dating back to 1997-98.

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