Feb. 18, 2006

BERKELEY - A largely reserve-grade side, lead by freshmen forwards Eric Fry and Julian Snellgrove, brought a different complexion to the pitch for Saturday's 52-22 victory by Cal over Sacramento State.

Eight different ruggers started for the Bears and another three played different positions compared to Cal's lineup against UBC three days prior. The visiting Hornets managed to put 22 points on the board, but that total was less than half of the Bears' output. Cal slogged through bone-chilling rain to score eight tries, three by Snellgrove, bringing its record to 10-0.

The Hornets played true to their name and proved a pesky challenge for the Cal backs, spoiling set pieces and scoring a try off an intercepted pass late in the first half, one of four tries by Sacramento State on the day.

But Cal's forwards kept control of matters in close quarters to ensure the match would not be in doubt. Snellgrove, a 6-7, 225-pound lock from Tiburon, was around the ball all day, winning lineouts, cleaning up loose balls, assisting for a try and collecting his first collegiate hat trick.

"It felt good," Snellgrove said. "As a team we could have played a lot better, but in general people put in a lot of hard work."

Asked whether it was more enjoyable to score a try or to assist on one, the freshman said, "Both are equal, though as a forward I don't score that many tries. I'm more focused on rucking."

Zak Triplett, starting at flyhalf and moving to scrumhalf after starter Brendan Wright left the match with an injury, connected on six of eight conversion attempts.

Coach Jack Clark refrained from making too much of the Bears' performance against the Hornets. "Individually we had several strong performances, but as a team we were not very accurate," said coach Clark. "All in all it was a pretty messy, unstructured affair."

In the reserve-grade match that followed the first XV, Cal defeated Sacramento State by the score of 77-0.

Cal travels to St. Mary's next weekend before returning home to face New York Athletic Club at Witter Rugby Field on Saturday, March 4.

The Scoring Timeline vs. Sacramento State:

10:00 David Poettcker 5, Zak Triplett 2

14:00 Julian Snellgrove 5, Zak Triplett 2

17:00 Julian Snellgrove 5, Zak Triplett 2

27:00 Ryan Miller 5

40:00 Sacramento State 5, 2

Half Time: California 26, Sacramento State 7

42:00 Paul Jesseman 5, Zak Triplett 2

46:00 Sacramento State 5

50:00 Ron Yokubaitis 5, Zak Triplett 2

53:00 Sacramento State 5

57:00 Julian Snellgrove 5

61:00 Sacramento State 5

65:00 James Sehr 5, Zak Triplett 2

Final Score: California 52, Sacramento State 22

The Team vs. Sacramento State:

15. Poettcker (Lee @ 43:00), 14. Miller, 13. Yokubaitis, 12. Pugh, 11. Lee (Watson @ 43:00), 10. Triplett (Poettcker @ 43:00), 9. Wright (Burrows @ 37:00, Triplett @ 43:00), 1. Wilhelmy, 2. Welch, 3. Kroll, 4. Snellgrove, 5. Jesseman, 6. Smith, T., 7. Sehr©, 8. Fry