Cal Rugby opened up the 15s season nicely, going undefeated in the Dennis Storer Classic at UC(la) this past weekend. The Bears played 3 games, and as usual, Coach Clark mixed his lineups with the intention of giving players experience and opportunities to earn positions. The bears finished up this afternoon with a match against the hometown UC(la) Bruins, and defeated them 38-8,
Cal has some impressibe young talent that was on display during the first two games. In the past several years, I remember mentioning that the Bear backs were guilty of a lot of knock-ons early in the season. Not so this weekend. Not only did the Bears distribute the ball well, but it seems to me that they have opened up the offense some this year. Tackling, as usual, was very solid. Conditioning is never a problem with the Bears. And it seems to me that, from what I could hear, on field communication is pretty solid. The kicking game looks very encouraging, with a number of difficult angle and lengthy kicks succesfully made. By the end of the match today, the Cal forwards were pushing the Bruins around pretty good. The one concern I have coming away from this tournament, (and remembering that it's early in the season), is the forward defensive lineout play. I don't recall the Bears being able to spoil a lot of throw ins. And I don't see the explosive speed that we have had in the past. It's certainly adequate, just in the first two days it seems not as prevalent as I expected. But this team, as always, looks very solid, well coached, and poised for a really great season.
As a sidebar, the two teams that impressed me in terms of improvement were Cal Poly and the University of Oregon! Cal Poly looks bigger and more athletic than I remember in the last 4-5 years. They played agressive, and look poised to improve their overall national standing. And Oregon!! Oregon went 2-1, losing only to Cal Poly today. I've never seen Oregon participate in the Storer, but they came in with something to prove off of their impressive performance in the 7s tourney at Berkeley. They tackled really well. They brought intensity. And they did some nice things offensively that I didn't expect to see from them. If they ever get their resources together and can get a few more bodies, mark my words they will be a force in the next 3-5 years. Very impressed with them.
So......next up for Cal is Santa Clara, followed by UCSB (both at Witter). Then, one of the best schedules I've seen starts with their scheduled match against British Columbia at home. As I posted a couple of weeks ago, the schedule this year is really good, inculding BYU, Arizona, Grand Canyon (an up and coming program that represents really well), Utah, and the season finale against St. Mary's at Witter.
So, bring it!!!!!
Cal has some impressibe young talent that was on display during the first two games. In the past several years, I remember mentioning that the Bear backs were guilty of a lot of knock-ons early in the season. Not so this weekend. Not only did the Bears distribute the ball well, but it seems to me that they have opened up the offense some this year. Tackling, as usual, was very solid. Conditioning is never a problem with the Bears. And it seems to me that, from what I could hear, on field communication is pretty solid. The kicking game looks very encouraging, with a number of difficult angle and lengthy kicks succesfully made. By the end of the match today, the Cal forwards were pushing the Bruins around pretty good. The one concern I have coming away from this tournament, (and remembering that it's early in the season), is the forward defensive lineout play. I don't recall the Bears being able to spoil a lot of throw ins. And I don't see the explosive speed that we have had in the past. It's certainly adequate, just in the first two days it seems not as prevalent as I expected. But this team, as always, looks very solid, well coached, and poised for a really great season.
As a sidebar, the two teams that impressed me in terms of improvement were Cal Poly and the University of Oregon! Cal Poly looks bigger and more athletic than I remember in the last 4-5 years. They played agressive, and look poised to improve their overall national standing. And Oregon!! Oregon went 2-1, losing only to Cal Poly today. I've never seen Oregon participate in the Storer, but they came in with something to prove off of their impressive performance in the 7s tourney at Berkeley. They tackled really well. They brought intensity. And they did some nice things offensively that I didn't expect to see from them. If they ever get their resources together and can get a few more bodies, mark my words they will be a force in the next 3-5 years. Very impressed with them.
So......next up for Cal is Santa Clara, followed by UCSB (both at Witter). Then, one of the best schedules I've seen starts with their scheduled match against British Columbia at home. As I posted a couple of weeks ago, the schedule this year is really good, inculding BYU, Arizona, Grand Canyon (an up and coming program that represents really well), Utah, and the season finale against St. Mary's at Witter.
So, bring it!!!!!