[chalcidbear]

and it looks pretty nice - LOTS of games at Witter Field, including playing Stanford for the Scrum Axe on Saturday Jan 26 at 1pm. See link below:

http://www.calbears.com/sports/m-rug...gby-sched.html

[CalBy7]

Field on the schedule. Also lookng forward to BC match. Good timing for that, right around mid season. Schedule looks great. Do you know if they will be going to Sacramento for the Rugby Kick Off weekend. It is very special to the high school and junior programs I am involved with to have the Cal Ruggers come to town. I forgot to ask Jerry the other day. I remeber their last trip up here, they had played Stanford that day and jumped on a bus and came up. Jack showed me that while on the bus he had broken down every line out, scrum, and play already from that match. Every detail, even though they trashed the Furd, nothing was overlooked.

[BeggarEd]

Looking forward to the UBC and St. Mary's games for sure!

[edg64]

Rugby is great.
Great athletics, great fans(both teams), uncrowded, no dancing/spiking/taunting.
Just 2 teams beating on each other.

BTW, What is the Varsity Cup?? Is that a 15's tournament??

[chalcidbear]

I think the Varsity Cup is the NC for 15's, but frankly I haven't kept up with how rugby is organized these days. Last year the NC was limited to those teams in the Premier league, which Cal dropped out of. I don't know if the Premier league is still around or not.

[TomBear]

Thank you Chalcid. I just looked for the schedule a couple of days ago trying to plan my schedule for the next two months and was disappointed not to see it posted. Your timing is terrific and I'm so pleased you brought it to my attention here. This is a GREAT schedule! There will be some really good competition, and I get to see the team down here in SoCal at least twice!!! I am so ready for this. Now, I'm ready to schedule a couple of trips to Witter as well, and I am so ready to plan my trips up. Edge, I agree with every point you made. The only thing that could make rugby better would be to have the Cal Band (in full uniform) there as well. I especially enjoy the fact that fans of competitors and our fans respect each other, and THE GAME!!!! Hence, your last point about no dancing, spiking or taunting falls into line so well. Wish football was played cleanly and respectfully as well. Go Bears!!!!

[chalcidbear]

Tom- Happy to oblige. BTW, a few years ago the Straw Hat band showed up for the home game versus Stanford. Perhaps they'll show up again this year? (in any event, no way the whole band will be there).

[Mama Bear]

What a nice Christmas eve present! Back to Witter--couldn't be better. Thanks and Merry Christmas to Chalcid and all the rugby devotees!

[Chabbear]

Can anyone explain the playoffs for next year? On the USA Rugby site, Cal is listed as D1AA. Ok, Cal also lists the their playoffs using the dates on the USA Rugby site so Cal appears to agree with the placement.

So, is D1A the top level and D1AA second? Well, Cal is D1AA as is BYU while St Marys and Stanford are D1A. Are there 2 top level championships and the real difference is when your college wants to play, in April to early May (D1AA) or in late May (D1A)??

www.usarugby.org

[BeggarEd]

Here is the best explanation I could find from http://www.deseretnews.com/article/8...p.html?pg=all:

"Provo, UT — A consortium of universities today announced the formation of a new top-tier post-season 15s rugby competition. The new competition will be called the Varsity Cup Championship (VC).

The founding universities include: Brigham Young University (Provo, UT); the University of California (Berkeley, CA); the University of Utah (Salt Lake City, UT); the United States Air Force Academy (Colorado Springs, CO); Dartmouth College (Hanover, NH); the United States Naval Academy (Annapolis, MD); and the University of Notre Dame (South Bend, IN). Other founding participants may be named in a subsequent release.

The founding rugby programs have long histories as top-10 programs, with AFA, BYU and Cal being multiple-time national champions.

The mission of the VC is to provide the participating teams with a superior platform for showcasing the highest level of rugby in America and to produce a commercially attractive national invitational championship that serves the interests of players and fans alike.

The Varsity Cup Championship will be played out over three consecutive weekends beginning in the latter part of April 2013.

With its commitment to the Varsity Cup, each team will remain a member in good standing with USA Rugby."

I think essentially the Varsity Cup means a school can choose to be in D1A or D1AA and play a league schedule of their own choice, but then are competiting for a championship through the Varsity Cup format come the end of the year. I believe I've read that some schools Varsity Cup will also compete for a "National Championship" via the traditional USA Rugby format, but that most will compete for the Varsity Cup only as they view that as a top-level championship competition. Confusing indeed...

[Chabbear]

Thanks! I guess we wait to see how this year rolls out. See you at Witter, Yippie!

[TomBear]

Wow, I just looked at the site and I'm totally confused by the various designations. On one hand it looks very regional, but then I see only certain members in the "Pac" with stanfurd in another 'conference"? I trust Jack to know we'll be where we need to be, but as a fan I'm not sure how this all shakes out. All I know is I can't wait to get back to Witter!!!! (Nor can I wait to see the Bears down here in SoCal for the UCla tourney)!!! Looks like there are open opportunities in the schedule as well. Maybe a trip to San Luis or Santa Barbara? Or another match with Mission Bay in San Diego? $C? Oh the possibilities........

[edg64]

The varsity 15's playoff games are the creme of the college level rugby.
Although Cal has been the most successful 15s the past few years, BYU, Utah, St Mary's and Cal Poly can really bring it on. BYU vs Cal is always a ballbuster.

There are no NCAA rugby leagues; i.e. , the 'PAC-12' is not a rugby league. Some
Pac -12 schools field(pitch) a rugby team, but, there is not a formal standings. playoffs, etc. Rugby 15s is not a NCAA sport

Cal attracts a large number of top flight rugby players and can field 2/3 top level teams in one tournament.

Cal rugby is BIG time and Witter field needs to be filled for the B C game and for that matter all the games.

I'm in SoCal and travel once year to Berkeley to watch a game. Last year was depressing. I don't miss any Socal games.

Rugby is football and needs to be hyped on this site. It's a good activity during the football off season.

[TomBear]

Edge, like you I live in SoCal and go up north for at least one game a year. This year I will probably go north for two matches. Currently I'm sure to go up for the Stanford game (assuming they show up, and also plan to go up for the UBC game. I may also be able to manage a third game against St. Mary's. Fortunately all three are weekend games, meaning I won't have to miss a game due to it being scheduled on a weekday. I'm hopeful that the open dates that remain on the schedule will allow for an extra game down here either against $C or maybe Cal Poly....or San Diego State. Any game is welcome down here! I see rugby as the true athletic spirit....as you stated earlier, no taunting, no need for "flash", and for the most part, all players (including the opposition) play in a way that is respectful of the game, and the fans. I tolerate the 7's game, but infinitely prefer that 15s game so I can see longer games, and a more physical style featuring more forward play. See you in a few weeks at the Pac 12 tournament at UCla!!!