After shutting out all three of its opponents at Witter Rugby Field since the field’s reopening last month, the Cal rugby team finally conceded some points to an opponent Wednesday night.
Off a penalty kick with 28 minutes remaining in the second half, Cal Maritime senior Will Fitzpatrick pierced the uprights from 28 meters out, the first time any visitor had scored on the Bears in Strawberry Canyon since Mar. 20, 2010. Ten minutes later, the senior scored again.
Cal would go on to win the game, 62-6.
“I think it really went to hell there in the second half,” said Cal head coach Jack Clark. “Not so good the last 30 minutes of the game. I told the guys that it wasn’t very good rugby. But I thought we in parts played some good rugby.”
It was a tale of two halves on a night so chilly that the players were sometimes obscured by the cloudy haze of their own breath. The game was already decided by halftime, as Cal (8-0) ran in three tries in the final 10 minutes of the half to take a 38-0 lead. Nine minutes into the second half, the frosh-soph squad had already put up a half-century.
But the Cal offense stagnated in the second half as Clark put in all seven eligible substitutes, five of whom were freshmen. After sophomore Michael Bush scored with 26:30 remaining, the Bears didn’t score again until extra time. Cal Maritime (7-1) had several opportunities to make the final score a little more respectable.
“I think they just kind of lost the plot,” Clark said. “When you’re a young guy in this program, there’s a lot of young guys, and you want to play on the frosh-soph team and get minutes. So when you get a chance, you gotta do the biz.”
The Bears will continue their homestand on Saturday, when the varsity takes on Cal Poly at 2 p.m.
Chris Yoder covers rugby. Contact him at [email protected]