BERKELEY – California rugby opens its home slate this Saturday, Jan 21 with a match versus Santa Clara. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m., with the gates at Witter Rugby Field to open at noon. Tickets can be purchased here and concessions will be sold on site with cashless forms of payment accepted. Fans unable to attend in person can watch the live stream.
 
The Golden Bears are coming off a solid start to their spring XVs season last weekend at the annual Dennis Storer Classic hosted by UCLA. Cal won its 17th-consecutive tournament title, going 3-0 against its opponents. 48 student-athletes received playing time in Los Angeles, with 15 making their first appearances in XVs competition for the Blue & Gold.
 
Cal looks to continue its strong start to the 15-a-side season against the Broncos this Saturday, which will be the first time the two teams meet for a XVs competition since 2019. The Bears defeated the Broncos with a mostly-underclassmen squad in the 2019 match, which was hosted at Santa Clara. The Broncos put points on the board first with a penalty kick, but the Bears answered back with four tries in a row, including one by 2023 co-captain Nathan Zylstra. The Broncos logged two more penalty kicks and a try in the match to collect their points, but the Bears scored eight more tries and converted all but two to make the final score 76-16.
 
The two programs were scheduled to meet in 2020 and 2022 but both contests were cancelled due to health and safety protocols. The Broncos put together a 3-3 record in 2022 XVs, taking victories over UC Davis, UCSB and SDSU. Saturday's match in Strawberry Canyon will be Santa Clara's first of the spring 2023 XVs season.
 
A squad of mostly freshmen and sophomores will represent the Bears on Saturday, captained by sophomore Kealan O'Connell. O'Connell had an impressive statistical weekend at the Storer Classic, going 5-for-5 on conversion kicks. He was a part of the starting XV against UCSB and was a reserve replacement off the bench versus UCLA. O'Connell also had a standout sevens season this past fall, starting in 11 matches and contributing the same number of tries on the tournament circuit. He logged 26 successful conversions to make his total point contribution 107, the most of any member of the team.
 
O'Connell will be joined by freshman Solomon Williams as the scrumhalf, a position he gained experience in last weekend at the Storer Classic when he played as a starter against UC San Diego and came in as a reserve versus UCLA. Rand Santos, also a freshman, will play as the inside center, the position he held in the starting lineup against the Bruins last weekend. He additionally started as the No. 13 in the contest with UCSD. Fellow freshman Oliver Newall will be the fullback this weekend, making his second XVs start in the No. 15 shirt for the Blue & Gold.
 
Sophomore Jon Puckett will play as a flanker after seeing time on the pitch as a starter against UCSD and a reserve versus UCLA at the Storer Classic. Puckett made his debut in XVs play for the Bears last weekend after being out with injury for the 2022 spring season. Juniors Josh Mao and Brett Dowgiewicz will be the lone upperclassmen in the starting lineup as tighthead prop and eight-man, respectively.
 
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