March 20, 2004

BERKELEY, Calif. - The California varsity rugby team defeated sister school UCLA, 83-11, before a packed Witter Rugby Field. Cal coach Jack Clark was pleased to see the renewal of the old UC rivalry: "Its great to have the Bruins back on campus. I sense there is some new energy in their program. West Coast rugby needs a strong UCLA rugby team."

The Bears featured mostly a reserve grade team with freshman Pat Castles, back from injury, starting at fly half and accounting for 30 of Cal's 83 points. All-American hooker Anthony Vontz was named match day captain to solidify the young team and was replaced at the half by freshman John Kuhns.

The match was very much a one-sided affair as Cal had all the possession and superior field position throughout the day. That was due largely to the Cal forward pack, which had the measure of its opponents.

Castles got the scoreboard moving in the first minute after scoring in open play. Five minutes later, Andrew Johnson touched down following a stolen lineout, with Castles converting the try.

Jacques Wilson went over next, followed shortly thereafter by Castles for his second. Both scores came off open play after multiple phases of rugby. The half finished with skipper Vontz scoring a try after the hooker pounced on a blocked kick in goal, leaving the score at the intermission Cal 36, UCLA 0.

The second half was deja-vu, with a try in the 41st minute by Dorian Pieracci scoring between the posts after James Sehr intercepted a lineout. Castles converted. UCLA answered back with a penalty kick in the 43rd minute and another 10 minutes later.

Cal went back on the job in the 60th minute, with freshman Ryan Miller scoring after a line out drive failed to cross the line. The Bears were now having fun, running the ball from everywhere as they went coast to coast off a poorly placed restart. Bradley Burruel featured prominently in the effort with a savage run, off loading just shy of the line for Wilson to claim the score.

Shortly thereafter Pprop Colin Walker went through the guts off the UCLA defense, after an inside pass from Castles. Walker, with one man to beat, passed to Wilson for his third.

Unfortunately for the Bears, the last try of the encounter was for the Bruins. Continued pressure allowed UCLA to go over in injury time, giving Cal the 83-11 win.

"We had mostly underclassmen in the lineup and I think they performed reasonably well," Clark said. "I would stop short of declaring them collectively ready for postseason play, but there are some bright careers in the bunch."

In the other bracket, Washington defeated San Diego State, 37-15. Tomorrow in the consolation match, UCLA will play San Diego State and Cal will play Washington for the championship.

Clark commented on Sunday's opponent: "I was impressed with Washington. They made pretty easy work of San Diego State, who had a few impressive players of their own."

The consolation match is at noon and the championship match is at 2 p.m., with both matches at Witter Rugby Field.

The Team:

15. Miller 14. Wilson, 13. Gurecki, 12. Brogan, (Boots 24-34, 56), 11. Pieracci, 10. Castles, 9. Johnson, (Wright, 50), 8. Wallace, 7. Tedesco, (Biestman, 70) 6. Sehr, 5. Stanfill, (Burruel, 50), 4. Rinker, (Kloberdanz, 27), 3. McDivitt, 2. Vontz, (Captain), (Kuhns, 40), 1. Walker

The Scoring:

Tries: Castles (2), Johnson, Wilson (3), Sehr, Vontz, Pieracci (2), Gurecki (2), Miller

Cons: Castles (10)