I couldn't be there, so I am having to depend on an IM from a former UBC player, and a message from a Cal guy, each of whom provided a different score. But Cal defeated University of British Columbia in rugby this afternoon by a score of either 31-6 or 38-6. I'm told the game was tied 6-6 at halftime, then Cal "dominated" the second half. This means Cal retains the World Cup by virtue of scoring more points in the two contests. The Bears now begin preparation for two very tough games against Utah (homecoming) next weekend, and then against St. Mary's College (on 4/13), who field very good sides. Both games up at Witter. Cal Rugby Forever!!!

TomBear;842105038 said:

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I couldn't be there, so I am having to depend on an IM from a former UBC player, and a message from a Cal guy, each of whom provided a different score. But Cal defeated University of British Columbia in rugby this afternoon by a score of either 31-6 or 38-6. I'm told the game was tied 6-6 at halftime, then Cal "dominated" the second half. This means Cal retains the World Cup by virtue of scoring more points in the two contests. The Bears now begin preparation for two very tough games against Utah (homecoming) next weekend, and then against St. Mary's College (on 4/13), who field very good sides. Both games up at Witter. Cal Rugby Forever!!!

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Awesome. Cal Rugby is really something to take pride in, not the least of which is they dominated the academic honors night at Haas a few weeks ago. The rugby players kept coming and coming. It was pretty cool.

My fraternity hosted the postgame party when Cal Rugby played the All Blacks in the 80s. I remember the beginning, an All Black player who got there before anyone else. "Where's the ****?" he asked, and my memory is hazy after that.

**** = slightly offensive term for urine.

... was 38-6, according to the official Cal blurb:

http://www.calbears.com/sports/m-rugby/recaps/032413aac.html

Man, if we can manhandle the Thunderbirds like this, AND regularly put up three-digit scores against stateside teams, then the sky is the limit for us this season.

My gosh.....I had no idea the Bears had taken on the All Blacks. I'd love to hear more about that if anyone can contribute to the story. Is it any wonder that the Bears are so good if they continually take on teams such as Mission Bay, UBC and even the All Blacks? What an honor. That would be a match that would never be forgotten!!!

JimmyMcNulty;842105042 said:

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Awesome. Cal Rugby is really something to take pride in, not the least of which is they dominated the academic honors night at Haas a few weeks ago. The rugby players kept coming and coming. It was pretty cool.

My fraternity hosted the postgame party when Cal Rugby played the All Blacks in the 80s. I remember the beginning, an All Black player who got there before anyone else. "Where's the ****?" he asked, and my memory is hazy after that.

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Are you sure it was the All-Blacks? Fairly certain that the All Blacks haven't played Cal since the 1950's. As dominant as Cal is at the collegiate level in the US today, national teams of the modern era from any of the major rugby playing nations (AUS, NZ, SA, FRA, IRE, ENG, WAL, etc.) paying against Cal would be a total mismatch akin to a D2 college team trying to play the 49ers.

I could be wrong though... Wouldnt be the first time!

BeggarEd;842105184 said:

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Are you sure it was the All-Blacks? Fairly certain that the All Blacks haven't played Cal since the 1950's. As dominant as Cal is at the collegiate level in the US today, national teams of the modern era from any of the major rugby playing nations (AUS, NZ, SA, FRA, IRE, ENG, WAL, etc.) paying against Cal would be a total mismatch akin to a D2 college team trying to play the 49ers.

I could be wrong though... Wouldnt be the first time!

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I played at Cal from 84 thru 88 and we nevet played the All Blacks. None of my older teammates played NZ. My understanding is that we last played the All Blacks in the '50s, when they had a player, Noel Bowden, who coached one season st Cal 30 years after playing against us.

In the '80s we did play two touring Australian college sides, Sydney Uni and Queensland Uni. There was plenty of revelry enjoyed by Cal and each other team during their respective visits. That may have been the party which rendered certain memories hazy.

Not knowing much about rugby, I would like to know what the World Cup is. Is it given to the top-rated college team in the world? If so, who does the rating? Just wondering because it doesn't seem that very many D-1 colleges field an intercollegiate rugby team.

tenplay;842105207 said:

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Not knowing much about rugby, I would like to know what the World Cup is. Is it given to the top-rated college team in the world? If so, who does the rating? Just wondering because it doesn't seem that very many D-1 colleges field an intercollegiate rugby team.

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Tenplay, the World Cup was initiated in the early '20s by the Vancouver World newspaper (hence the "World Cup") for the annual winner of the rugby series between University of British Columbia and Cal. I didn't look on the website, but I think it was either 1921 or 1923 when the cup was created.

Winning the cup is based on the overall score (total points) between the teams. So if Cal wins the first game 14-0 but loses the second 7-0, Cal wins the cup by virtue of having scored 7 points more than UBC in the two game series.

Beardog26;842105190 said:

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I played at Cal from 84 thru 88 and we nevet played the All Blacks. None of my older teammates played NZ. My understanding is that we last played the All Blacks in the '50s, when they had a player, Noel Bowden, who coached one season st Cal 30 years after playing against us.

In the '80s we did play two touring Australian college sides, Sydney Uni and Queensland Uni. There was plenty of revelry enjoyed by Cal and each other team during their respective visits. That may have been the party which rendered certain memories hazy.

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You'd certainly know better than I would, particularly after that party. I researched it online and can't come up with anything, so I dropped an email to Cal Rugby asking them who it was. It's driving me mad!

I've been telling people it was the All Blacks for a long time. Now it looks like I'm going to have to look all those people up and inform them I've been lying.

I'll report back on what the team sez.

TomBear;842105266 said:

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Tenplay, the World Cup was initiated in the early '20s by the Vancouver World newspaper (hence the "World Cup") for the annual winner of the rugby series between University of British Columbia and Cal. I didn't look on the website, but I think it was either 1921 or 1923 when the cup was created.

Winning the cup is based on the overall score (total points) between the teams. So if Cal wins the first game 14-0 but loses the second 7-0, Cal wins the cup by virtue of having scored 7 points more than UBC in the two game series.

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Thanks, TomBear. Hahaha. So my understanding of the World Cup was way overblown. Considering how lopsided most rugby scores are at the collegiate level, it is amazing that the series has continued for over 90 years at presumably a competitive level. If we had a similar series with Furd, we would probably be up 90-0 by now (counting all the forfeitures).

tenplay;842105328 said:

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Thanks, TomBear. Hahaha. So my understanding of the World Cup was way overblown. Considering how lopsided most rugby scores are at the collegiate level, it is amazing that the series has continued for over 90 years at presumably a competitive level. If we had a similar series with Furd, we would probably be up 90-0 by now (counting all the forfeitures).

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Strangely enough, Stanford was actually competitive with Cal as recently as the late 90's, even beating them in 1998 I think. They have really fallen off since then...

BeggarEd;842105184 said:

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Are you sure it was the All-Blacks? Fairly certain that the All Blacks haven't played Cal since the 1950's. As dominant as Cal is at the collegiate level in the US today, national teams of the modern era from any of the major rugby playing nations (AUS, NZ, SA, FRA, IRE, ENG, WAL, etc.) paying against Cal would be a total mismatch akin to a D2 college team trying to play the 49ers.

I could be wrong though... Wouldnt be the first time!

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You are right -- as good as Cal Rugby is here at our university level in the States, they would be hard pressed regional and even some club games in the countries that you listed above. Playing the All-Blacks would be like Cal playing a JC in football.