The Cal Rugby team competed in it's first playoff game of the season yesterday by defeating Cal Poly 70-13.
Cal was in control of the match enough that about midway through the second half, a ton of substitutions were made, giving younger players important playoff experience in the event of any catastrophic injuries.
Overall, Cal tackling was good. I went with CalBearKen and at one point I remarked we needed Coach Sirmon to be up at Witter to see how tackling is done, and get a bit motivated about having the football team match the efficiency of the rugby team (though I have said something like that many times).
Several Bears made it into the try area for Cal. I think at least 5 players scored trys for the Bears. It was especially good to see Max Threlkeld take the field. His recent injury looked like it might possible be serious. But there he was, on the pitch, making great plays along with some nice work by Kirsten, Williams, deBeer, snd of course Weigold.
The Bears were solid on defense, and on offense it looked to me like they were trying to open things up just a bit with a bit more open field creativity. There was a bit more work off the foot than usual, and I thought the Bears did a good job of getting the ball outside to their wings. Once Cal worked the ball outside, the Mustangs didn't have an answer to defeat Cal's speed. Overall, this looked a bit more like the Bears I'm used to seeing. Basically solid, fundamental rugby that eventually just wore Poly down. By the end of the match, Cal Poly looked totally gassed.
However, they're still going to need a bit of work for the hoped for and achieved rematch with St. Marys next Saturday in Moraga. The Gaels took down Grand Canyon 78-7. I tried to catch glimpses of that match on the stream while I was watching the Bears, but just couldn't take my eyes off the Witter field enough to say much about the Gaels victory other than it was a bit more overwhelming than I expected. I know from what I read that GCU made a couple of really stupid mental errors which I would not expect from a Sean O'Leary team. But it happened, and SMC took advantage, though they had the game well in hand long before those yellow and red cards were issued.
St. Marys are a creative and determined bunch. They're quick thinking and execute in the loose really well. Every year I feel like they're getting better and better, and this year is no exception. Bears need to play at the top of their game to knock the Gaels out of the playoffs. If the Bears play as they did against Navy, St. Marys won't be able to beat them. If they played as they did yesterday, it's anyone's guess. If they played as they did against BYU, it will be a season of questions. Coach Clark says their best rugby is ahead. A big win over another playoff team is a good step closer to a Natty. But the same holds true for SMC.
Elsewhere in the west, Central Washington edged Arizona, and BYU took care of UC(la).
The East is really interesting. Navy defeated Mary Washington handily. Arkansas State beat Davenport (I'm a bit surprised by that one), Lindenwood dominated Mount St. Marys, and Life beat Army 24-17 in a game that was probably a lot of fun to watch.
So we get the rematch we wanted next Saturday in Moraga. I will TRY to post possible stream info before I leave for NoCal.