VANCOUVER - This Saturday offers the UBC men's rugby team a shot at history, as well as a large dose of revenge. Having already won the first leg of the Wightman Boot series by a 29-16 margin, they simply need to lose by less than 12 points in the second leg to wrest back the Boot for the first time since 1997.
Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. at the Gerald McGavin Rugby Pavilion on campus.
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The Wightman Boot is an annual series that dates back to 1970 when UBC and the University of Victoria first contested it. A two-game series that sees the winner emerge with the best aggregate score over both games; before 1997, the Boot winner was decided in a single game. The prized trophy is named after Brian Wightman, an ex-England international that coached at UBC from 1964-1967.
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UBC's win in November was their first over Victoria since 2008. The team has won the Boot 17 times while their Island rivals have triumphed 38 times with one tie.
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The Thunderbirds are unblemished coming into the new year, sitting on a perfect 9-0 record in the Okanagan Spring Brewery League 1 and an additional win against Victoria in the first leg of the series.
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Victoria play in the division above League 1 in the Canadian Direct Insurance Premier League and have won four of six league games before the winter break.Â
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Both teams will be without a number of key players this weekend. Canada call-ups mean UBC will be without
Jorden Sandover-Best and
Sean Ferguson this weekend while Victoria have four players of their own missing due to Canada commitments, with Pat Kay, Sean Duke, Nathan Yanagiya and Kane Wyatt all preparing for the Las Vegas 7s.
The Thunderbirds will also be without James Thompson who started at fly-half and scored a try in the first leg; he is out with an ACL injury that will see him miss the rest of the season.
Brock Staller, UBC's leading scorer, is due to return in the next couple of weeks but just misses out on this weekend's contest with a broken finger.
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