TUCSON, Ariz. – California rugby rolled past Arizona 85-10 in Tucson to stay undefeated in PAC conference play and improve to 7-1 on the season. The Golden Bears scored 13 tries by 10 different players and Kealan O'Connell went 10-for-13 on the extras to tally up Cal's points.
 
"Thank you to Arizona for the match," Cal head coach Jack Clark said. "That was a warm winter day, and all the players deserve credit for staying at it. I thought our boys were good today. We had a lot of possession, and strung together some good phases of rugby."
 
Cal was dominant on the attack from the get-go and was first to light up the scoreboard when Oliver Newall carried the ball in from the left wing just four minutes in. It only took three minutes for the Bears to string together some attacking phases and send it across the tryline in the arms of Pat Deely for Cal's second score. Newall had a good run after the restart to keep the Bears in Wildcat territory, and Deely dotted it down to collect back-to-back tries.
 
Solomon Williams spotted a gap and carried in a score three minutes later. Jon Puckett had a strong day, and broke a few tackles before quickly offloading to a trailing Will Shankland who tapped it down for another Cal try.
 
Arizona then worked its way into Bear territory and set up an attacking lineout at the goal line. The Wildcats mauled it in to put a try on the scoreline, which they did not convert.
 
The Bears answered back shortly after when Rand Santos connected with Newall, who jumped it past the goal line for his second try of the day. Cal kept the scoring rolling and sent the ball through in the arms of Hugo Schreuder, which was the first try of his collegiate career. The Bears took a 43-5 advantage into the halftime intermission.
 
The Bears kept the momentum going in the second half and strung together a few attacking phases on the goal line before co-captain Alex Aguero punched it in. On the next possession, Max Threlkeld managed a gap and ran the ball into scoring territory before offloading to Joe Kirsten to tap it down. The Wildcats managed a try after the restart, but failed to convert the score.
 
Matt Vranesh came off the bench in the second half and made an impact, going to work from the forward pack and diving between the goal posts for a try. Shankland was next to break a line of Cats and he stepped his way in for his second try of the day at minute 71.
 
Cal's reserves continued to bolster the Bears' second half performance, with replacements Emilio Shea and Dom Paga each punching in tries from the forward pack. O'Connell had perfect accuracy in the second period, going 6-for-6 in the final 40 minutes to lift the Bears to victory.
 
UP NEXT
Cal will stay in Arizona to contest a match with Grand Canyon on Monday at 12 p.m. MST.
 
Scoring Timeline:
Cal vs. Arizona
4:00 – Oliver Newall 5
7:00 – Pat Deely 5, Kealan O'Connell 2
17:00 – Pat Deely 5
20:00 – Solomon Williams
24:00 – Will Shankland, Kealan O'Connell 2
30:00 – Arizona 5
34:00 – Oliver Newall, Kealan O'Connell 2
39:00 – Hugo Schreuder, Kealan O'Connell 2
Half: Cal 43, Arizona 5
46:00 – Alex Aguero 5, Kealan O'Connell 2
58:00 – Joe Kirsten 5, Kealan O'Connell 2
64:00 – Arizona 5
68:00 – Matt Vranesh 5, Kealan O'Connell 2
71:00 – Will Shankland 5, Kealan O'Connell 2
74:00 – Emilio Shea 5, Kealan O'Connell 2
78:00 – Dom Paga 5, Kealan O'Connell 2
Final: Cal 85, Arizona 10
 
Starting XV:
1. Clayton Seastrand 2. Cade Crist 3. Charlie Walsh 4. Pat Deely 5. Miles Malone 6. Hugo Schreuder 7. Jon Puckett 8. Alex Aguero 9. Solomon Williams 10. Rand Santos 11. Oliver Newall 12. Max Threlkeld 13. Will Shankland 14. Joe Kirsten 15. Kealan O'Connell
 
Substitutions:
Matt Vranesh (52:00), Dom Paga (52:00), Brett Dowgiewicz (52:00), Josh Mao (55:00), Mack Fell (59:00), Caleb Tomasin (65:00), Evan Weigold (65:00), Emilio Shea (71:00)
 
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