BERKELEY – The journey of 2017-18 is underway for California rugby, which enters its 135th year as the oldest intercollegiate sport at the University with 15 recruited student-athletes who have commenced their careers as Golden Bears.
 
As young as they are talented, 13 of the 15 new student-athletes begin the fall semester at the age of 18. They come to the University from a range of rising and perennially successful school and area clubs, academically rigorous and athletically successful high schools, and esteemed international institutions of learning. The new group of recruited student-athletes, with six the 15 student-athletes holding passports outside the United States, is consistent with the historical trend at the University toward an increased international presence, a pattern that also showed itself at the 2017 Cal Rugby Summer Camp.
 
The new group's immersion into the team "is a gradual process," said Hall of Fame head coach Jack Clark. "It's not, on day one, 'Here is the manual," as much as it is, 'Let's begin this journey,'" Clark continued. "And I say journey because all too quickly, these young freshmen will be upperclassmen, and they'll be the custodians of our culture and our values."
 
The 2017-18 competition schedule begins for Cal rugby October 7 at the West Coast Collegiate 7s on the Central Coast, hosted by Cal Poly. The November 11-12 PAC Rugby Conference 7s Tournament will close the autumn schedule in Tucson, Ariz., before January of 2018 kicks off the spring 15s season. As the entire squad delves into the autumn semester focused on academic achievement in the classroom and athletic development at every team activity, let's meet the newest Rugby Bears.
 
BAY AREA
 
Kevin Saunders of Alamo, Calif., is a graduate of San Ramon Valley High School and a veteran of the Danville Oaks Rugby Club, which won the Northern California and Pacific Cup Championships in 2015 and '16, finishing among the top teams in the nation both years with Saunders as a starter. A 2016 attendee of Cal Rugby Summer Camp who plays center and stands at 5-9 and 200 pounds, Saunders was a three-year starter for Danville who received Bay Area All-Star recognition in 2015 and '16, and played with the High School All-Americans on their two-victory tour in British Columbia in the summer of 2016. Two grandparents, Edward Saunders '41 and Martha Egensperger '73, also graduated from the University. Both of Saunders' parents are graduates of UC Davis; his mother, Claudia, is a business administrator and his father, Tim, is a real-estate developer. Kevin is considering an academic pathway at the University toward a career in technology.
 
Isaia Taotua is 5-8, 267-pound prop who graduated from De La Salle High School, where he earned Highest Honors every semester, received departmental awards for History and Religion, served as senior class president and was a nominee for Class Valedictorian. Taotua was a captain of his gridiron football team as a senior, when the Spartans advanced to the 2016 CIF Open Division State Football Championship, and his play as a two-way lineman was recognized with All-East Bay Athletic League and All-Bay Area honors. Taotua, who received the Bruce Wilhelmy Leadership Award for his success at DLS, played rugby for the Spartans as a 13- and 14-year-old. He began competing for the Lamorinda Youth at the age of 11 and continued with the Raptors Youth at ages 12-13 followed by the Danville Oaks club from the age of 15. His mother, Marleny, is an optometrist who raised Isaia in a single-parent household. A first-generation American of Samoan heritage from Concord, Calif., and the first in his family to attend university, Taotua is interested in Environmental Science and Engineering potential academic majors.
 
SACRAMENTO VALLEY
 
Garrett Kay is a 6-1, 200-pound back-row player who was Jesuit High School's captain and Forward of the Year in the Marauders' successful campaign for the 2017 High School National Championships' single-school title. Kay, who hails from Shingle Springs, Calif., was a member of the academic Honor Roll all four years of high school and was a starting gridiron receiver as a junior. He received regional rugby all-star representative selections in Northern California in 2014, '15 and '16, and started at flanker for the High School All-Americans at the U-18 European Championships this spring and against British Columbia competition this summer. Kay, whose grandmother Patricia Nash graduated from Cal in 1954, attended Cal Rugby Summer Camp as a rising high school junior and senior. Family members with collegiate football backgrounds include his grandfather Louise Nash, who played at Nevada. Kay's mother, Johanna, is a Nurse Practitioner who graduated from Fresno State. His father, Mike, graduated from the Air Force Academy and serves as the CEO for WSD Wheel Systems. Kay is interested in Business Administration and Economics as potential academic majors.
 
Gavin Janis is a 6-1, 195-pound scrumhalf from Rocklin, Calif., where the Cal Rugby Summer Camp alumnus graduated from Rocklin High School and earned the Distinguished Community Service Award for over 150 hours of volunteer service. At Rocklin, Janis was a gridiron standout for the Thunder at linebacker and running back who was named a unanimous first-team all-league selection as a senior in 2017 by the Sierra Football League for his play on defense. He punctuated his high-school gridiron career as a Scholar Athlete his junior and senior seasons with a GPA of above 4.0. On the rugby pitch, Gavin played for his father, Tom, on the Sierra Foothills Youth Rugby Club from the age of 10-15 and, as a junior and senior, with the Granite Bay Rugby Club, which won the 2016 Tier I Club High School National Invitational Championship and reached the national semifinals in 2017. Gavin's play for Granite Bay earned him a spot on the regional representative youth side for Sacramento Valley in 2016 and recognition as Granite Bay's Best Back in 2017. Gavin's mother, Heather, is an Elementary School Teacher and graduate of Sacramento State; his father is the Superintendent of the Eureka Valley School District and a graduate of UC Davis. The elder Mr. Janis played rugby for the Aggies as a collegian followed by a long playing career with the Sacramento Men's RFC. Gavin's father was an asisstant rugby coach at Jesuit High School and coached at Sierra Foothills prior to becoming a coach for Granite Bay. Janis may navigate an academic path toward a Business or Economics major.
 
Desi Streater, a 6-1, 175-pound flyhalf also from Rocklin High School, began playing rugby at age 10 for Sierra Foothills and, starting at age 14, Granite Bay. At Rocklin, Streater was a gridiron football player who started at safety, wide receiver and kick returner as a junior and senior. The 2016 Cal Rugby Summer Camp attendee was a three-year captain at Granite Bay, which also named him its Back of the Year three times as the club's top try scorer. Streater was a Northern California and Sacramento Valley all-star selection in 2016 and was named to the 2016 All-Tournament Team after Granite Bay's National Tier I Club title. Streater's aunt Nikki Saporito played rugby at UC Davis from 2004-08. His mother, Pauline Saporito, is an assistant accounting manager. Streater may pursue a major in Molecular and Cell Biology.
 
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
 
Jacob Tuua-Burch is a 6-1, 232-pound student-athlete from Orange, Calif., who is headed for the back row on the Bears. He is a graduate of Orange High School, were he earned Honor Roll accolades as a junior and senior. On the pitch, Tuua-Burch captained the Back Bay Sharks team to the 2016 state club championship. He is a two-year veteran of the Cal Rugby Summer Camp. On the gridiron for Orange HS, Tuua-Burch was an All-Golden West League selection as a senior for his play at tight end. He competed in varsity water polo as a junior at Orange and was active in the school's Polynesian Club. His mother, Alataua, works at Disneyland Hotel and is a graduate of Cal State Dominguez Hills; his father, Michael, is an alumnus of Orange Coast College and member of the Transportation Security Administration. Tuua-Burch may pursue Business Administration as an academic major.
 
Blake Richards-Smith was a three-time Scholar Athlete and two-sport varsity student-athlete as a junior and senior at Torrey Pines High School in San Diego, where the 6-4, 200-pound back-rower from Solana Beach also captained the water polo team as a senior. Richards-Smith played for the Coastal Dragons Rugby Club in addition to Torrey Pines, serving as a vice captain for both squads in 2017, and was a starter against Portugal for the High School All-Americans during the spring's U-18 European Championships. He was a two-year attendee of Cal Rugby Summer Camp in 2015 and '16. Both parents are computer programmers: his mother, Shona, graduated from the University of Cape Town; his father, Trent, is a graduate of the University of Queensland. The family rugby pedigree extends to his maternal grandfather, Duggie Jutronich, and grand-uncle Jumbo Jutronich, who played for Rhodesia prior to its transformation to modern-day Zimbabwe. Honored as an Academic All-American in 2017 for water polo, Richards-Smith may pursue an academic pathway toward a degree in Business Administration.
 
OUT OF STATE
 
Sam Golla is a 6-4, 245-pound lock who graduated from East High School in his hometown of Denver, Colo. Born in Texas and a 2016 attendee of the Cal Rugby Summer Camp, Golla was the captain of his East High team as a senior. As a sophomore and junior he was a starter as East High won the state title in 2015 and finished as runner-up in 2016. Golla's father, Matthew, is a public defender who obtained his JD from Santa Clara University following his undergraduate degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder. His mother, Michelle, is a mathematics instructor and personal trainer who graduated from Temple University. Golla may pursue his degree through the University's College of Environmental Design.
 
Jack Manzo is a 5-8, 205-pound hooker from Xavier High School, winner of the 2017 New York State D1 boys championship and a national quarterfinalist for the third straight year. On the pitch, Manzo was a three-year starter and, as a senior, a vice captain and the Most Valuable Forward as a starter at Xavier. A member of the High School All-Americans at April's U-18 European Championships, Manzo was selected to the National Honors Society for 2016-17 at Xavier, from which recent Cal graduate and starter Pat Coleman, All-Americans Connor Sweet and James Kondrat, and former captain, All-American and U.S. National Team player Seamus Kelly also graduated. Like Kelly, Manzo hails from Queens, N.Y., and also played football for the Knights, starting as a junior and senior at fullback and linebacker for the 2015 Catholic League champions before an injury curtailed his senior season on the gridiron. His mother, Pamela, is a marketing and advertising executive at Neo@Ogilvy who graduated from Bucknell University. His father, Anthony, is a writer and alumnus of Hunter College. A 2016 attendee of the Cal Rugby Summer Camp, Manzo is considering the pursuit of a major in Integrative Biology.
 
INTERNATIONAL CONTINGENT
 
Seth Purdey is a 6-0, 200-pound fullback and center from Mill Bay, British Columbia, who received the Best & Fairest Award when he attended the Cal Rugby Summer Camp in 2016. Purdey served as Head of Boarding House at Shawnigan Lake School, where he helped his school win three provincial rugby 15s championships from 2015-17 and the provincial 7s title in 2017, earning Team MVP honors and serving as captain during his senior year. In addition to Shawnigan Lake, Purdey competed in rugby for the Tsunami Regional Rugby Club at the U-16, -16 and -18 levels, and at the representative level for both British Columbia and Canada U-18s and U-19s. He also played ice hockey at Shawnigan Lake. His father, Andrew, the CEO of Ruskin Construction Ltd. and an engineer who graduated from the British Columbia Institute of Technology. Mr. Purdey played rugby in his younger days for Vancouver Rowing Club along with several of Seth's uncles. Purdey's mother, Lynn, attended Simon Frasier University. Purdey may choose Economics as his academic major.
 
Thibault d'Auriol arrives at the University from Shouson Hill, Hong Kong, by way of the Shawnigan Lake School on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. At the University he joins his brother, Hugo, who is a senior fullback/center on the rugby team. A 2015 Cal Rugby Summer Camp attendee who stands at 5-7 and 157 pounds, the younger d'Auriol is slated to play scrumhalf for the Bears, the same position at which he started for Shawnigan Lake in its 2016 provincial championship victory for 15s, the team's second in a row following its 2015 title. During a gap year following his graduation from Shawnigan Lake, d'Auriol played with the Valley Rugby Club in Hong Kong. Thibault's mother, Claudia Shaw, is a fashion consultant at Chanel who graduated from Bryn Mawr College; his father, Guy, is a founding partner of a private asset management firm. Thibault, who also speaks French, may pursue a major in Business Administration as an undergraduate.
 
Daniyal Magomedov, who stands at 5-8 and 193 pounds, arrives at the University having honed his academics and rugby skills at The Harrow School in England, where the native of Moscow, Russia, was a school team captain. Magomedov's prowess on the pitch, where he is projected as a hooker for the Bears, also earned him a spot in the Saracens Academy. Magomedov was president of the Slavonic Society, secretary of the PIGOU Society and received a Math & Statistics Award at Harrow, while completing challenging internships outside of school in addition to extensive volunteer work. He is a son of Ziyavudin Magomedov, a Russian businessman and venture capitalist, the owner and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the private holding company Summa Group, who graduated from the Economics Faculty at Moscow State University, and Olga Magomedov, Presidium Member of PERI Foundation. Daniyal is fluent in four languages and considering the pursuit of Economics as his academic major.
 
Adam Roeske is a 6-1, 187-pound center from Eton College in the United Kingdom who was born in Bahrain and lives in Dubai. Roeske, who attended the Cal Rugby Summer Camp in 2016 as a rising high-school senior, was a two-sport student-athlete at Eton, competing as a starter in water polo as well as rugby. Roeske's rugby experience began with the Drifters Rugby Club in the UK from ages 5-8 and continued with the Dubai Exiles Youth Club from ages 9-14. At Eton, Roeske was his rugby team's 7s captain and 15s vice captain for his final two years. His mother, Sahar, is a teacher who graduated from the University of Birmingham; his father, Martin, is the CPO and COO of Arab Financial Services, and an alumnus of Oxford University. Roeske is considering an academic pathway toward a career in medicine.
 
Marcus Shankland also arrives from Eton College as a 5-9, 173-pound scrumhalf and center. Shankland is 2016 Cal Rugby Summer Camp attendee who was born in Australia and lived in Russia before making his residence in Surrey, England. On the rugby pitch for Eton, Shankland led the team with 22 tries scored in 2016-17 and was named captain of Eton's 7s team. In the classroom, he was honored with a Russian Academic Prize and was also active in the school's Oriental, American Business & Culture, and Education Societies. His mother, Caterina Gambino, is a personal trainer who graduated from the Hornsby campus of New South Wales' institute for Technical and Further Education; his father, Martin, is a managing director for Adidas and alumnus of the University of New South Wales. His younger brother, William, currently plays rugby for The Harrow School. Shankland is considering the pursuit of an academic major within the University's College of Letters and Sciences, and a possible minor in Chinese or Russian.
 
Oliver Sharpe is a graduate of the Cranleigh School in Surrey, England, where the 5-7, 167-pound wing and fullback helped his school win the Roslyn Park National 7s title and St. Joesph's Festival 15s title in 2016-17. He also received "full colours" as a track athlete at Cranleigh. Academically, Sharpe became the youngest student at his school ever to become a member of the Pervis Academic Society. He also received the Senior Prefect's trophy for leadership, sporting excellence and academia. Sharpe competed additionally for the Guildford Rugby Club, whose U-18 team won the National Colts Cup in 2017. He is the brother of Seb Sharpe, the former UCLA All-America rugby player who graduated in 2016. A sister, Felicia, is also a current freshman at Cal. Their mother, Deborah, is a journalist who graduated from the University of London; their father, Joff, graduated from the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst and served as an Army Officer with the Infantry and Special Forces before transitioning to a civilian career and his current role as Chief Operating Office for British Land, a commercial real-estate developer. Sharpe may pursue a major in English toward a future career in the creative arts, potentially as a screenwriter and director.
 
WALK-ON JOINS RUGBY BEARS
 
In addition to its recruited student-athletes, the team may have additional walk-ons from campus.
 
Ian Huynh, a 5-8, 190-pound flanker from Repulse Bay, Hong Kong, is one such student-athlete to join the team as a walk-on for 2017-18. Born in Singapore, Huynh was a captain for his rugby team at the Hong Kong International School. In the classroom, he made High Honors every semester of high school and received an Excellence in Mathematics Award in 2017. Additional rugby experience for Huynh includes time on the youth side of the Valley Fort Rugby Club and representative play for Hong Kong at the U-12, U-14, U-16 and U-19 levels. His mother, Joanne, graduated from Laval University in Quebec while his father, Phong, is an insurance executive and alumnus of the University of Alberta. Huynh is considering Applied Mathematics and Business Administration as possible academic majors.