The comeback kids always hit their stride in the second half.
Twenty-one wins were forged on halftime adjustments — tweaks that turned those lingering close games into routs. Three weeks ago, Cal trailed St. Mary’s by 15 at halftime only to turn the tables and waltz to an easy win. Not every game was a tale of two halves, but in those that were, the second halves always belonged to the blue and gold. Why would the national championship be any different?
It hurts to get so close to the top of a mountain only to tumble off just inches from the peak. After stifling a blizzard of BYU attacks in a tie game in the waning minutes, a mere dropkick befell the Bears. Seconds later, the whistle blew. 27-24. Game over. Season over. Twenty-one wins. And one stinkin’, heart-wrenching, soul crusher of a loss.
It sucks to lose. It sucks even more when you’ve made a habit of winning. Consolation is a cruel reward.
But damn, don’t let this overshadow everything else the Cal rugby team did this year.
If a team’s entertainment value is measured by its margin of victory, the Bears were astoundingly boring this year. Cal didn’t win a single match all year by single digits. Coach Clark, the professor of process, trains his team not to look at the scoreboard. It’s a luxury only teams like Cal can afford. Even in Clark’s most lopsided wins, he maintains a critical eye.
On Jan. 26, the Bears beat Stanford, 176-0. So, how did you think your boys did, Coach?
“I thought we did OK.”
UBC was supposed to be a challenge. Cal won the “World Cup” by a total of 42 points. Utah was supposed to be a challenge. Cal won by 22. Navy was supposed to be a challenge. The Bears throttled them, 74-6.
Those results could have been worse. Penn State was the only other fearsome foe Cal faced from across the Mississippi. The Bears won that matchup, 100-0.
There will be another national championship played this year under the aegis of the fading collegiate format that is USA Rugby. In the coming weeks, there might be debate over which of the two championships is the “real” one. There shouldn’t be. Saturday’s matchup was clearly contested between the two best teams in college rugby.
It was the first time all year Cal played a game that was still being contested late in the second half. BYU’s team not only rolled with Cal’s punches — it fought back.
It was unlike anything the Bears had seen this year. Down 19-10 halfway through the second half, Jack O’Beirne converted try cut the lead to two. BYU promptly answered with a try of its own. Seamus Kelly’s try with six minutes left helped the Bears tie the game, but it was Jonny Linehan’s fluttering dropkick that sounded the game’s final note.
Maybe the Bears just needed to play more close games. Or maybe collegiate opponents aren’t enough of a challenge for them anymore. The Cougars’ two losses came to strong club teams. Perhaps the bitter taste of defeat was what galvanized them.
The cards were stacked against the Bears, but you won’t see any Cal players attributing their play to BYU’s raucous home field advantage, nor the slew of injuries that stripped the team of a good chunk of its senior talent. No, the Bears will attribute this loss to sloppy play and a lack of precision. As a result, BYU gets the glory.
Would the Bears have won if they’d been fully healthy? We’ll never know. So it goes with sports. You give it your best with the best you are given and hope that’s enough to beat the other guys. Cal’s best, even without several of the top players in the country, was good enough to beat the other guys 21 times this year.
It just wasn’t enough on Saturday.
Chris Yoder covers rugby. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @christiancyoder.