April 17, 2005

BERKELEY - The University of California Rugby team will advance to the Final Four after defeating the University of Tennessee 65-3 in the round of eight. Cal will now face Navy in the Semifinals of the National Championship.

Today's lineup featured 11 changes from the team that beat Minnesota 71-17. In the front row All-American Skipper Tony Vontz and Loosehead prop, Brian McClenahan reunited with All-American Cyrus Dorosti who started in Saturday's match. Lou Stanfill paired up with Miles Jones in the "engine room" and they were complimented by the rested Backrow trio of Rikus Pretorius, Joe Welch and Andrew Lindsey.

In the backline, Rob Weedon started at Flyhalf for a second day and was joined in the midfield by Ryan Donnelly and Chase Brogan. Chris Gurecki, who started against Minnesota at center moved to the wing, and was accompanied by Andy Hanks and Andrew Blair at Fullback.

Nine different Cal players touched down in the 11-try performance, with Gurecki and Lindsey scoring a brace apiece. The other try scorers were Weedon, Vontz, DiGiorgio, Brogan, Hanks, McClenahan, and replacement Daniel Grinter. Andrew Blair had five conversions.

The Strawberry Canyon faithful were rewarded immediately as the opening exchanges of the match were all Cal. The Bears scored three tries in 10 minutes thanks to Vontz's powerful forward pack which dominated the set piece. Behind the forwards Rob Weedon kicked to space with devastating effect and unleashed a lethal attacking backline spearheaded by the hard running of Donnelly and Hanks.

The forward's drive at the line of touch could not be stopped allowing Vontz to power over for a try from about five meters out. Lindsey and DiGiorgio both scored tries the result of the Cal scrum bullying the Volunteers near their own line. Lindsey drove over from a tighthead and DiGiorgio pounced on a loose ball at the back of the retreating Tennessee scrum. Tennessee kicked a penalty at the end of the first quarter but that's would be the only action their score sheet would see. The score at the half was California 33, Tennessee 3.

The second half opened with Chase Brogan scoring between the posts from the opening kick off. The try of the afternoon was scored by Andy Hanks. Tennessee was rallying and mounting a ferocious attack deep in Bear territory. After several phases a Volunteer turnover found Hanks with a seam of daylight in front of him, he streaked 75 meters to score in the corner. Now Cal was in control scoring tries comfortably leaving the final score California 65, Tennessee 3.

Cal Varsity Rugby Head Coach Jack Clark commented on his team's victory: "We are close to getting it right but we're not their yet. We have two weeks left to finish this team. There are no `do overs' in a single elimination tournament."

As mentioned Cal will now face Navy, who defeated Ohio State 21-16. On the other side of the bracket BYU defeated Army in the Pool C Championship36-13. BYU will now face local rival Utah, who defeated host UC Santa Barbara in the Pool B Championship 25-18. The final four will be held Friday and Saturday, April 29-30 at Stanford University. For more information visit the USA Rugby website at www.usarugby.org.

The Scoring Timeline:

5:00 Rob Weedon 5, Andrew Blair 2

11:00 Vontz 5, Andrew Blair 2

15:00 Gurecki 5

20:00 Tennessee Penalty 3

27:00 Andrew Lindsey 5, Andrew Blair 2

35:00 Joel DiGiorgio 5, Andrew Blair 2

Half Time: California 33, Tennessee 3

41:00 Chase Brogan 5, Andrew Blair 2

48:00 Andrew Hanks 5

58:00 McClenahan 5

61:00 Andrew Lindsey 5

66:00 Daniel Grinter 5

72:00 Chris Gurecki 5

Full Time: California 65, Tennessee 3

The Team:

15. Blair, 14. Hanks, 13. Brogan, 12. Donnelly 11. Gurecki 10. Weedon, (O'Brien, 57), 9. DiGiorgio, (Johnson, 69), 1. McClenahan, 2. Vontz©, (Biller 20-30, 57), 3. Dorosti, 4. Jones, (Rinker 30-37), (Jesseman, 41), 5. Stanfill, 6. Welch, 7. Pretorius, (Grinter, 47), 8. Lindsey.