BERKELEY – California rugby is set to take on the Santa Clara Broncos in a midweek clash on Wednesday evening at 6:30 p.m. at Bellomy Field. The Golden Bears, who are fresh off a 3-0 performance at the Dennis Storer Classic in Los Angeles this past weekend, will make a quick turnaround for their fourth-straight road contest of the 2024 XVs season.
 
Cal got off to a strong start this past weekend, defeating UCLA (21-0), Cal Poly (33-7) and UC San Diego (94-0), to win the annual Storer Classic for the 18th consecutive tournament. The Bears scored 22 tries by 15 different players across their three matches and gave all 50 student-athletes in the travel party minutes on the pitch.
 
Cal will visit Santa Clara for the Broncos' first outing of the 2024 season. Santa Clara hosted two preseason contests with UCLA (Nov. 4, 2023) and Western Washington (Nov. 11, 2023) in which it fell to the Bruins 72-14 and the Vikings 46-0. The Broncos compiled a 5-4 record in the 2023 XVs season, defeating Sacramento State, UC Santa Cruz, UC Santa Barbara, San Diego State and UC Davis.
 
The Bears and the Broncos last met in Berkeley on Jan. 21, 2023 when Cal beat Santa Clara 79-3 in the home opener at Witter Rugby Field. A Cal side of mostly freshmen and sophomores scored 13 tries by 10 different players. The Bears allowed the Broncos to add a penalty kick to the scoresheet in the first half, but successfully shut them out in the second half to secure the win.
 
Cal last visited Santa Clara for a Friday night matchup on March 15, 2019. The Bears emerged with a 76-16 victory over the Broncos, with eight different players finding the tryzone. Sam Walsh, who graduated in 2022 and since then has had a career playing rugby with the USA 7s squad, tallied 19 points by way of a try and seven conversions. Sam Golla ('22), who earned his first cap with the USA Eagles XVs squad this past summer, was also a starter and try scorer in the contest.
 
The Bears will likely travel a young squad to Santa Clara this Wednesday. Cal's freshmen and sophomores combined for 80 points at the Storer Classic between 10 tries and 15 conversion kicks. Sophomore Cormac Saint led the underclassmen in scoring, going 12-for-14 on conversion attempts and scoring a try in the Bears' matchup with UCSD. Freshman Emmett Cook had a busy weekend as the only first year to play in all three of Cal's contests, once as a starter and twice making an impact off the bench.
 
"School-night rugby doesn't happen that often for us, so it's something to look forward to," Cal head coach Jack Clark said. "Our side will be largely comprised of frosh-sophs. Getting competition time early in the careers of underclassmen is important for their development. The Broncos are rebuilding their team at present, but they have a strong tradition in rugby. We want this fixture to benefit both teams."
 
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