Cal Takes On Life In Title Match

BERKELEY – California rugby is set for the 2025 D1A National Collegiate Championship match against Life University Saturday in Indianapolis. The contest will kick off at 4p.m.  PT / 7p.m. ET at Kuntz Stadium. Fans can purchase tickets here, or watch the match live on The Rugby Network.

Cal (14-1) earned the No. 1 seed in the west region after going undefeated against its regional opponents and putting together an 11-1 regular season record. Highlights from the regular season included wins over Brigham Young (48-17), Army (24-19), Saint Mary’s (48-45) and the return of the World Cup series against British Columbia, in which Cal claimed a 49-24 victory.

In the postseason, the top-seeded Bears rolled past Colorado State (76-7) and Arizona (74-45) in the first round and quarterfinal matches, respectively, before defeating Saint Mary’s, 38-27, in Berkeley to punch their ticket to the championship match.

East region No. 1 Life (14-1) collected an identical record to Cal in 2024-25 action, putting together an 11-1 regular season record to earn the top seed in its region. Life took wins over Mount Saint Mary’s (21-19), Navy (23-20), Saint Mary’s (24-22) and Lindenwood (28-24). Its only loss came at the hands of Queens University of Charlotte, with a 29-26 final score.

Life routed Davenport in the first round of the playoffs before taking a close-margin, 18-17 victory, over Army in the quarterfinals. Life defeated Lindenwood in the semifinal contest to earn a spot in the finals.

Cal and Life have met four times in 15-a-side action, all in the postseason. The series is split at 2-2, with Cal winning in the 1982 championship match and the 2011 quarterfinals. Life came out on top in the 2018 and 2019 title contests, taking a convincing win in 2018 before edging the Cal side, 29-26, in 2019. Three Bears from the 2019 match – Christian Dyer, Sam Golla and Jack Iscaro – went on to be capped by the U.S. National Team and remain active members of the extended player pool for the Eagles. This weekend will be the first time Cal and Life have met in XVs play since the 2019 title contest.  

Cal will look to field a squad similar to its semifinal lineup against Saint Mary’s two weeks ago, with every class level anticipated to be represented in the first-15. Senior captain Charlie Walsh will lead his team out for the final match of his collegiate career. It will be his 45th career start for the Blue & Gold.

Walsh will be joined by fellow senior stalwarts Hugo Schreuder and Tom Dixon in the forward pack, along with junior standout hooker Cade Crist.

The Bears’ halfback duo of juniors Solomon Williams and Rand Santos will orchestrate Cal’s attack, with fellow juniors Max Threlkeld and Oliver Newall along with senior Joe Kirsten expected to take the field in the backline.

A handful of freshmen have been called up to the Bears’ first-15 this season, including Masi Koi, Filip Edstrom and Oliver Kirk, who are all expected to retain starting positions this weekend in their national championship debuts.

Saturday will be Cal’s 36th all-time appearance in a XVs championship match, having claimed 28 national XVs titles since the championships began in 1980. The Bears’ last title match appearance was in 2023, and Cal last took home Varsity Cup national XVs championship titles in consecutive seasons in 2016 and 2017.

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