March 6, 2004

BERKELEY, Calif. - The Scrum Axe will remain in Berkeley for another year as the Cal varsity rugby team did a demolition job on Stanford, defeating the Cardinal, 91-5. Stanford could do little to stop the one-way traffic as the Golden Bears scored a season high 15 tries, with Jacques Wilson and Andrew Blair accounting for seven of those 15. Andrew Lindsey and Anthony Vontz scored two each, and Mike MacDonald, Robert Weedon, Cale Garamendi and Bradley Burruel made the score sheet with one each.

The match will be remembered for two things: the Cal forwards' utter dominance of the set piece, supplying their backline with an abundance of quality possession, and the Cal backs' superior handling skills and angles of running, which left their Stanford counterparts overlapped and in a scramble defense throughout the encounter.

Two minutes into the match, the Bear's forward pack muscled in a lineout from 15 meters away, allowing Lindsey to score his first, which Gurecki converted. Wilson scored next from some smooth handling in open play to go over in the corner.

Burruel then picked up from the base of a scrum five meters out and bullied his way over the line, and Gurecki converted. Now the flood gates were open, with Blair scoring from phase play after Marc Tausend stole a lineout. That was followed by a Wilson try, made possibe by some elusive running and a precision pass from Blair.

Blair touched down his next try from a scrum center at midfield, after a DiGiorgio pass combined with a well-timed insertion that sent the fullback through the Stanford defense like a hot knife through butter. Gurecki converted. Before the intermission, Wilson and Lindsey would each go over again, leaving the score at the break 50-0.

The second half started just like the first, with a try in minute 41:00 from a lineout drive close in by the Cal forwards, credited to Vontz. The Bears then scored a try roughly every five minutes.

A close quarters try by MacDonald was followed by another well-crafted line break for Blair's third of the afternoon. Weedon snuck over after noticing the short side of a ruck was left undefended by the Cardinal. Vontz would get his second by linking up with Chris Gurecki in the backline.

The varsity unfortunately took its foot off the gas pedal just long enough for Stanford to capitalize and score a try with seven minutes remaining in regulation. But the varsity had the last word, with Garamendi, back from injury, going over for the Bears' last try, leaving the final score 91-5.

"First off let me say I believe under the new coaching team Stanford will turn around their rugby program and regain their status as one of the top teams in America," Cal coach Jack Clark said, "but obviously they are not their yet and therefore it would be wrong to make too much of today's scoreline. We are showing signs of improvement as a team, but we are a long way from the finished product. However with that said, what matters most to the Cal faithful is that the Axe remains in Berkeley for another year."

The varsity returns to Witter Rugby Field at 1 p.m. this Saturday, March 13, to take on the Hornets of Sacramento State.

The Team:

15. Blair, 14. Wilson, 13. Gurecki, 12. Johnson, 11. Hanks, 10. Weedon, 9. DiGiorgio, 8. Burruel, 7. Lindsey, (Wallace, 45), 6. Boggs, 5. Stanfill, 4. Tausend, (Garamendi, 60), 3. MacDonald, (Captain), (Walker, 60), 2. Vontz, 1. Dorosti

The Scoring:

Tries:

Wilson (4), Blair (3), Lindsey (2), Vontz (2), MacDonald, Weedon, Burruel, Garamendi

Cons: Gurecki (8)

The Cal reserve grade beat Stanford's Second XV, 97-0.