Iowa City Ducks Rugby Football Club

All Iowa weekend is here! Flock to Iowa Falls and cheer on the Ducks this Saturday 🦆

Come see the Ducks in action at the Hawkeye Classic! This Sunday the Ducks kickoff action at 1:51 pm and 4:15 pm

More info about the event here: https://recserv.uiowa.edu/event/137271/0

🦆📢 PRACTICE ALERT!! 📢🦆
Time to start shaking off the rust for spring season. This very Thursday (2/22) at 5:00 p.m. at Scott Park and continuing on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5 - dark

SEE YOU THERE

Had a nice turnout for the annual banquet earlier this month featuring Ducks of the past, present, and future!

Limited time Ducks budgy smuggler. Orders due by end of this week.

Order here.
https://buy.stripe.com/fZecPj9Cx95eb8AbIW

Size chart here.
https://budgysmuggler.com.au/pages/sizing

Tomorrow is a Rugby Day!

Last home game of the season.
1pm
Scott Park

Be there!

A lot of great matches this past weekend! We're already looking forward to Week 4! Later this week we will post updated league tables as we're getting close to the midway point of the season.

Midwest Rugby Union
Eastside Banshees Rugby Club
Des Moines Rugby Football Club
Iowa Falls Rugby Football Club Foundation
Dubuque Rugby
Northeast Iowa Rugby Club
Iowa City Ducks Rugby Football Club
Quad City Irish Rugby
West Des Moines Wombats Rugby Club
River City Rugby Football Club
Sioux Falls Crow Rugby
Grand Rapids Women’s Rugby
Palmer College Rugby Football Club

Ducks take down the Barbs today.

Beautiful Saturday for rugby.

Thanks for coming

Today’s lineup on the pitch at 1pm.
Hawkeye Rugby Fields.

See you QUACKERS there! 🦆

Today is the day!

Game day.
Home
Vs
1pm
Hawkeye Rugby Fields

Come be a part of the and cheer on our ducks!

M.O.M.🔑 Braden Nelson

Braden was chosen by his peers awarding him on his Man of the Match performance during the match against Bremer County.

Many Ducks flew high this game, but this subject Duck SOARED. He scored his first-ever try by being in the ideal supporting position; an eventual reward for his persistence and work rate with learning and earning into the game. He was everywhere, working tirelessly both with and without the ball, delivering the Bucks body shots (not the tasty kind), and consistently making intelligent decisions on the field.

Great job, Braden🍺

Also, speaking of Bremer County Bucks Rugby Club…

We were reminded of that sweet victory in 2022 for the Irish Fest. Unfortunately, storms prevented us from being awarded the trophy on stage at the big event.

Heard a little rumor that we weren’t engraved on the trophy? Can you dudes confirm or deny?

In the meantime, we will relish our homemade trophy 🏆

Thanks Bucks,
From: the Ducks 🦆

Ducks flew and fell to Bremer in game two.

Tough fought match ended up with the Bucks taking down the Ducks.
Thanks for having us

HUGE WEEKEND of rugby for the Iowa Rugby Union and Midwest Rugby Union as we've got 8 teams in 5 matches across 3 divisions playing rugby tomorrow! The Des Moines Women's Rugby Club, Cedar Rapids Shieldmaidens Women's Rugby Club, and Quad City Irish Women’s Rugby had a festival tournament scheduled by unfortunately it was cancelled. DSM will host their festival tournament on September 23rd, CR will host on September 30th and QC will host on 10/14!

D2
Eastside Banshees Rugby Club at Des Moines Rugby Football Club

D3
Iowa Falls Rugby Football Club at Dubuque Rugby
Northeast Iowa Rugby Club at Iowa City Ducks Rugby
Quad City Irish Rugby at West Des Moines Wombats

D4
River City Rugby Football Club at Sioux Falls Crow

Don't forget tonight that Iowa State Men's Rugby hosts University of Iowa Men's Rugby in their CyHawk rivalry!

M.O.M.🔑 Dico Lourens

Dico was chosen by his peers awarding him on his Man of the Match performance during the fall home opener.

The Duck Pond continues to add to its cultural diversity pool - as we add this week's Man of the Match, a man from the furthest-south nation of Africa. He immediately contributed through the use of his formidable foot, elegant lineout wins, and confident cover tackles from fullback. His opulent omnipresence leave speculation as to what his on field position should be. It is rumored that spectators are still unsure. He also scored two tries, transmitting some telepathy with Nemschoff.

Welcome to the Ducks, Dico Lourens, great first run. 🍺

8/26/23

The first match off the ranks against last season’s league champion, no other than our friendly marsupial foes, the West Des Moines Wombats.

The Wombats showed that they were out of hibernation and hungry for some meat (tries, or points, if you will). Their stubby little legs and tails and wet noses accrued a total of 50 points across the 80 minutes, through combinations of incredible individual efforts backed by superb support.

The Ducks did not lay down, however. Every minute of the 80 was an opportunity to work hard, play hard, and bind together in the face of a strong opponent. Some crisp backline ex*****on saw Dico Lourens cross the line, twice, from a **trick of the trade that cannot be shared publicly**. Joel Horne scored the last Ducks try late in the game in his typical lightweight-but-strong willed fashion. Final score was Ducks 19 to Wombats 50.

Tries:
Lourens- 2
Horne-1

Conversions:
Connolly- 2

The Ducks fell in our home opener in August!

It was beautiful sunny day for some rugby.
Thanks for coming guys!

2023 Fall Schedule!

Save this.
And see you at a game.

First game of the Fall Season. 🍁

This weekend.
Saturday
1pm
Vs
And AT SCOTT PARK in Iowa City.

See you there!

New shirt on our website!

Order now on our website.
Many colors available.

Wanna Ruck?!?! 🏉

Do you have what it takes to fly with the Ducks…. 🦆

Tuesday, August 22nd
@ the Hawkeye Rugby Fields
6pm

Come out and test your skills against the men who do it for (not) a living.

No experience needed.

Competitors have the opportunity to test their mettle in a series of challenges that exemplify the fundamentals of effective gameplay including kicking, passing and catching, scrumming, and rucking.

And if you’re new to the Pond, it’ll be a prime time to have our seasoned vets show you the ropes.

All attendees will be able to continue training with the Ducks, and even play in our Saturday matches - as well as receiving a free t-shirt (as if the day couldn’t get any better!)

So come on down, the water is fine!

This poor air quality is kicking our butts!

Practice will be at the Coralville Recreation Center Tonight.
6-7:30pm

See you all soon.

M.O.T.🔑 David Gorman

David was chosen by his peers awarding him on his Man of the Tournament performance during the hosting of our Block Party 7s Tournament.

Not often does a player that is brand-new to rugby have the confidence to play after only a few practice sessions. IF they play that soon, rarely do they get to score points. NEVER, do they score five tries in five games. Until our 2023 Block Party Sevens Man-of-the-Tournament DAVID GORMAN came along and blew the socks off not just his competitors, but his compadres, too. Whether stepping around, shaking off, or just blowing through tackles, David had strength, pace and fitness to burn throughout the day, demonstrating one of the most incredible performances of a rookie this side of the Pacific.

Well-done, David!🍺

Block Party 7s
6/24/2023

Countless sleepless nights were common-place in households across the Midwest the last few weeks. People’s excitement and anticipation was getting the best of them. They knew that the Iowa City Block Party 7’s Tournament was fast approaching, yet not fast enough.

Early Saturday morning, the day of the tournament, saw the posts, grass, and people’s spirits, all erect with readiness for the ensuing proceedings that were so hankered for.

High school men’s, open social men’s, and National Qualifier Men’s, were the three brackets available for competition. The Iowa City Ducks started their competition with a faceoff with the C-Side C-Men. In what may have looked like a coaches vs. players game, the C-Men displayed feats of strength and wisdom but failed to deliver the points to the board. The Ducks won 21-7.

The second match against the Freeborn Felons got to half time with a scoreline of only 5-0 to the Ducks with Horne opening scoring. It seemed to be an even spread of skill and speed. It took Nick “Snakehips” Breitzman and rugby-rookie David Gorman to display some gas to get the Ducks to 17 points, followed by a too-little too-late try by the Felons to finish the game at 17-5 Ducks.

The Wombats welcomed the Ducks to the final pool game. It was a physical, tit-for-tat game that finished with the Ducks on top 19-14, The lightning delay was courteous enough to wait for this game to finish, before it halted matches for approximately 45 minutes.

The pool results seeded the Ducks and Wombats to play each other again in the elimination bracket to qualify for a spot in the 1st place final. As It was a high scoring exchange, with a similar narrative to the pool game, except for more on the line. Blows were traded until the final score settled at 22-14 to the Ducks.

FINALly, the Eureka Kings (west of St. Louis MO), who had amassed over 100 points in the pool games, were waiting for continue their dominance, but this time against the host squadron, the (Mighty) Iowa City Ducks. The Ducks allowed an early try against them, then grinded away at the Kings line for the rest of the half and were finally awarded with a meat pie (try). 7-7 at half time.

Too soon, the Kings exploited mistakes and tired bodies and used the rest of the half to run away with the score to 33-7 in an assertive display of 7s rugby.

It was yet another successful Block Party 7s tournament, and a critical building block for high school rugby notoriety in the Midwest. Great job and thank you to all of the volunteers for their hard work, players for their travels and efforts, referees for their commitment to bettering the game, and significant others for supporting their partners in one of the most grueling AND rewarding sports in the world.

Trys:
Bartling -2
Snyder-3
Gorman-5
Horne-1
Breitzman-2
Hardginski-1

Conversions:
Horne-2
Breitzman- 2
Snyder-1
Parkinson-2

We can’t wait!

PRACTICE CANCELLED!

Poor Air Quality = Unsafe Conditions

Keep your lungs healthy friends!
We will see you Thursday.

Thank you to ALL that participated in our annual BLOCK PARTY 7s tournament! 🎉

What a successful weekend full of rugby!

Every year we are so stoked to host you all, and this year we were able to include the National Qualifier and High School Boys.

Looking forward to next year! 🏉