Last season, when the Cal rugby team faced Utah, the Bears were in an unusual position. The team was coming off of a loss in its previous match to Cal Poly and was in danger of losing consecutive games for the first time since the 2003-04 season. In the 78th minute of the match, at Rio Tinto Stadium in Salt Lake City, the Utes scored a try, putting them in front by two points.
But in extra time, the Bears got a break. Utah was called for a penalty and Cal sophomore Jake Anderson, who was filling in as kicker for the injured Alex Aronson, nailed a penalty kick, which gave the Bears the 23-22 win.
Thirteen months later, the two teams will meet again Saturday at 1 p.m. on Witter Rugby Field, in a late-season test for the Bears.
“We are expecting a good game,” said Cal coach Jack Clark. “I think we typically bring out the best in our opposition and we quite often see their most spirited play, and their best play. So I think Utah will be coming here with a thought they are going to beat us, and if not run us really close.”
After collecting the “World Cup” trophy after the team’s 38-6 win over the University of British Columbia, the team will have a chance to collect hardware in consecutive weeks; with a win, the Bears (17-0 overall) will clinch the first regular season championship awarded for the inaugural PAC Rugby Conference. Coming into the match, Cal is 4-0 in the conference, while Utah and UCLA are tied for second with 2-1 records, respectively.
“It will be good to go against a strong opponent in the conference,” said Anderson, now a junior on the team. “The goal is to win the game, win the conference, and to look ahead.”
Saturday’s match, which is the second-to-last regular season game for the Bears, will also be homecoming at Witter Rugby Field — the first that Cal has had the opportunity to host since 2010. All of the factors going the match, make for a big opportunity for the Bears.
“I think it is just really important that we build off of a good performance in Vancouver,” Anderson said. “And as we go into the thick-end of the season against some tougher competition that we just continue to get better and we build on what we’ve been doing and that will really show what this team is made of, if we keep improving.”
Stephen Hobbs covers rugby. Contact him at [email protected]