California rugby heads to the desert this weekend for matches against Arizona and Grand Canyon. The Golden Bears will first play the Wildcats on Saturday at 1 p.m. MT / noon PT, before kicking off a President's Day matchup on Monday versus Grand Canyon at 12 p.m. MT / 11 a.m. PT.
 
"Including the reserves match Saturday, it will be three matches over three days," head coach Jack Clark said. "We will travel a big squad of 44 players to pull it off."
 
Last Saturday, the Bears defeated British Columbia 38-7, improving to 7-0 in the spring season. The Bears now have back-to-back wins against the Thunderbirds. But the results might have come at a cost, with the team losing starting lock Miles Malone to injury. The injury depleted Cal squad used eight underclassmen in its victory in Vancouver, leaning heavily on standout upperclassmen Cade Crist, Solomon Williams, and Rand Santos. The Bears welcomed back talented sophomore center, and last season's national championship game MVP Filip Edstrom from injury, and he was nothing short of superb. Cal fullback Oliver Newall and wings Emmett Cook and Nate Comiskey were excellent against the Thunderbirds' kicking game.
 
Cal last played Arizona on April 12 last season, in the quarterfinals of the 2025 D1A National Collegiate Championships, in a 74-45 victory for the Bears. 2026 returners Masi Koi, Filip Edstrom, Chris Biller and Byron Finley all scored tries in the victory. Prior to that, the Bears had, early in February, defeated Arizona 46-0 on a stormy day in Strawberry Canyon. Cal was last in Tucson on Feb. 17, 2024, when the Bears toppled the Wildcats 85-10.
 
Arizona has put together a 7-2 record in 2025-26 action, with victories over Northern Arizona, Grand Canyon (47-21), Colorado (45-0), Cal Poly (46-22), rival Arizona State (58-14), and St. Thomas (66-40). The Wildcats' lone losses came to Lindenwood (34-21), and Saint Mary's (68-15).
 
Cal last played Grand Canyon on Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025, when the Bears cruised to an 86-21 victory over the Antelopes as part of a doubleheader weekend with the Bears playing UBC on Sunday. Six returners from last year's squad scored tries in that game led by Jack Byszio and Cormac Saint, who converted two tries each. The Bears last visited Grand Canyon on Feb. 19, 2024, claiming a 74-7 victory. 2026 returners Oliver Newall, Michál de Beer, and Saint all scored tries in that contest.
 
Grand Canyon holds a 5-3 record in XV's this season, with victories over Colorado (48-7), San Diego (26-23), cross-town rival Arizona State (94-17), Trinity Western (39-28) and most recently an upset victory over UCLA last weekend (31-24). GCU fell to Saint Mary's (53-0) and Colorado State (54-28) in Phoenix earlier this season. However, a 29-26 narrow defeat over BYU was possibly the Antelopes' most impressive result.
 
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