Another Season, Another Championship for Bears

It seems the Cal rugby team will never get bored of this.

After the Bears won the national championship Saturday against Brigham Young, the players on the sideline rushed onto the pitch to congratulate and celebrate with the players on the field, some of them looking as if they had never won a title before.

But looks can be deceiving.

It was the team's fifth consecutive championship, and almost all of the players had experienced the feelings that accompany finishing the postseason as the last team standing.

When all is said and done, this season boils down to just another year of Cal dominating the collegiate rugby scene.

"We have a bit of experience at this," coach Jack Clark said.

It showed.

Match after match, the Bears proved they are the best collegiate team in the country. In its 24 victories, Cal won by an average of 50.83 points.

In January, the Bears demolished Stanford to win the Scrum Axe and shut out four consecutive opponents to win the UCLA Tournament.

In February, the team avenged its only loss of 2007 by defeating the Old Mission Beach Athletic Club, the 2006 Rugby Super League champion.

Cal's only loss of the season came in March against British Columbia in the second leg of the World Cup Series.

That defeat, which came in the Bears' last match of the regular season, cost the team its perfect season and gave it even more incentive to work hard during April Drive and live up to its top seed in the playoffs.

There, Cal trounced its first two opponents by a total of 167 points and defeated regional rival Saint Mary's in the semifinals before beating the Cougars 59-7 in the title match.

With their collegiate careers now over, the graduating seniors don't know what it feels like to lose in the playoffs.

"Every year I've been here," eightman Louis Stanfill said. "It feels great. The hiccup (in 2003, when the Bears lost to Air Force in the national semifinals), and I come here as a freshmen and help win five national championships. It feels pretty good."

It wasn't all good for the Bears, however.

Several key players were sidelined with season-ending injuries, while others dealt with the loss of parents. In some sense, the championship match was homage to those who would have been watching, or even playing.

"I'm very proud of these young men," Clark said. "To think that here we are after all that and we're on the top of the medal stand, it's just a great tribute to these young men."

Some of those young men won't be around next season, leaving a new group of players with the responsibility of keeping the dynasty alive.

At least one such player is ready for that challenge.

"Every single year is a new year," junior wing Ryan Taylor said. "We don't give anything to last year. Last year's team was last year's team. Next year's team will be a completely new team.

"The same goal to go four and out in (the postseason), to play well all season and be a constantly improving team."

In other words, Cal hopes that when the lineup changes, the winning ways remain.

As for this season, what remain are not the cuts, scars and bruises. What ultimately remains is the feeling of glory.

How can the Bears ever get bored of that?

"I don't see how," senior captain Rikus Pretorius said. "I'm enjoying it."

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