Today was homecoming for Cal's rugby team - there is a reception for former players from 3-5pm, so they adjusted the schedule to have the reserves play at 11am (against Humboldt State), and the first team to play against Utah at 1pm.
I saw the tail end of the first game, and it was clear that Humboldt State was entirely outmatched - I think the final score was something in the neighborhood of 140 - 0.
As for the Utah game, Cal basically won the game in the 1st minute of the game - we kicked off to Utah, got the ball back, and ran it in for a try in under 60 seconds. After that we scored 2 more tries in quick succession, then things settled down with no scoring for about 5 minutes, and then the floodgates reopened. The score was 65-0 at the half, and 118-0 at the end of the game.
Our defense was, again, phenomenal. The few times the Utes got the ball, they were unable to advance it for any significant distance, while Cal had some great runs chewing up 100's of meters overall. We were totally dominant in the scrums, several times pushing the Utes away from their own put -ins, while the lineouts were more or less a wash. Sam Cusano has completely recovered from his injury of a few weeks ago, and I don't believe we've suffered any more injuries since then. Utah had only 3 chances at scoring points in the match. The first was in the first half, when they were awarded an attempt at a penalty kick (worth 3 points), but the angle was bad, and they missed. The 2nd attempt was another penalty kick with about 10 minutes left in the game, and this was from the middle of the field, but again they missed. The final time was right after this kick. Utah had the ball and got to the 5 meter mark, but Cal stiffened up and the Utes couldn't get much further. Both teams were tired, and Cal had a lot of subs in, and play was the least cohesive I've seen in a long time. The ref had to restart play 3-4 times during this period, and the Utes still couldn't advance the ball. At one point Cal stole the ball and ran it out 20 meters, but Utah got it back and still couldn't score. Finally Cal got the ball again and tore down the field to score the last try of the game, the match ending with the conversion attempt.
A couple of highlights: Cal had the ball and was advancing - while we were passing the ball, one Cal player didn't catch the ball - instead he simply slapped it back to the next guy behind him, and this gave the next Cal player a split second advantage, and he was able to avoid the defenders and score. Then in the 2nd half, 2 Cal players converged on a Utah ball carrier deep in their territory. They didn't just stop the guy, but one of our players grabbed the ball out of his hands, and then went in for a try. All in all, a masterful performance.
Next week we play Arizona at Witter, and the week after. the must-see game against St. Mary's on March 30 - a game that may mirror this years NC final.
There was only one thing of worry to me. Coach Clark was present at the game, but spent almost the entire time sitting down. I hope that was a sign of nothing more serious than a bad cold.
I saw the tail end of the first game, and it was clear that Humboldt State was entirely outmatched - I think the final score was something in the neighborhood of 140 - 0.
As for the Utah game, Cal basically won the game in the 1st minute of the game - we kicked off to Utah, got the ball back, and ran it in for a try in under 60 seconds. After that we scored 2 more tries in quick succession, then things settled down with no scoring for about 5 minutes, and then the floodgates reopened. The score was 65-0 at the half, and 118-0 at the end of the game.
Our defense was, again, phenomenal. The few times the Utes got the ball, they were unable to advance it for any significant distance, while Cal had some great runs chewing up 100's of meters overall. We were totally dominant in the scrums, several times pushing the Utes away from their own put -ins, while the lineouts were more or less a wash. Sam Cusano has completely recovered from his injury of a few weeks ago, and I don't believe we've suffered any more injuries since then. Utah had only 3 chances at scoring points in the match. The first was in the first half, when they were awarded an attempt at a penalty kick (worth 3 points), but the angle was bad, and they missed. The 2nd attempt was another penalty kick with about 10 minutes left in the game, and this was from the middle of the field, but again they missed. The final time was right after this kick. Utah had the ball and got to the 5 meter mark, but Cal stiffened up and the Utes couldn't get much further. Both teams were tired, and Cal had a lot of subs in, and play was the least cohesive I've seen in a long time. The ref had to restart play 3-4 times during this period, and the Utes still couldn't advance the ball. At one point Cal stole the ball and ran it out 20 meters, but Utah got it back and still couldn't score. Finally Cal got the ball again and tore down the field to score the last try of the game, the match ending with the conversion attempt.
A couple of highlights: Cal had the ball and was advancing - while we were passing the ball, one Cal player didn't catch the ball - instead he simply slapped it back to the next guy behind him, and this gave the next Cal player a split second advantage, and he was able to avoid the defenders and score. Then in the 2nd half, 2 Cal players converged on a Utah ball carrier deep in their territory. They didn't just stop the guy, but one of our players grabbed the ball out of his hands, and then went in for a try. All in all, a masterful performance.
Next week we play Arizona at Witter, and the week after. the must-see game against St. Mary's on March 30 - a game that may mirror this years NC final.
There was only one thing of worry to me. Coach Clark was present at the game, but spent almost the entire time sitting down. I hope that was a sign of nothing more serious than a bad cold.