BERKELEY - California rugby defeated Brigham Young 64-21 Saturday in their return to Witter Rugby Field. Nine different players scored 10 tries in the victory.
 
It was the Cougars who struck first after an errant pass from Oliver Teague was intercepted by Malae Tanuvasa. Tanuvasa went untouched, running the ball into the tryzone, putting BYU on the board first with a converted try.
 
The Bears earned a lineout in the seventh minute. Byron Finley brought the ball down and the Bears drove it over for a Brice Muller try.
 
Cal forced a Cougar turnover in the 13th minute, and the Bears elected a scrum, where scrumhalf Solomon Williams found captain flyhalf Rand Santos, who played the ball wide to Michál de Beer, who found Filip Edstrom in stride for the Bears second try.
 
Cal played out of another attacking scrum in the 16th minute. Williams found Santos, who passed to Edstrom. Edstrom passed back to Williams, who broke a tackle, and crossed for another Bears try.
 
After a BYU yellow card, the Bears earned an attacking lineout. Hitting Finley, the Bears had another driving lineout with Elliott Lewis dotting it down, and a conversion from Edstrom made it 28-7.
 
In the 24th minute, the Bears lost last year's national championship game MVP sophomore Filip Edstrom to injury and turned to freshman Oliver Sinclair. Two minutes later, a 50/22 kick from Santos gave the Bears a lineout. From the lineout, Finley found Williams. Williams snuck a pass out of the back to Masi Koi for a try.
 
The Bears continued to apply constant pressure to the BYU defense. A big kick by Oliver Newall led to the Cougars carrying the ball over the tryline. The ensuing 5-meter scrum led to a push-over try with Oliver Teague doing the honors.
 
In the second half, the Bears leaned on the reserves. They subbed off starters Rand Santos, Solomon Williams, Oliver Kirk, Alex Vieira, Cade Crist, and six minutes later, Elliott Lewis and Brice Muller. Sinclair, who subbed in for Edstrom earlier in the first half, ended his day at flyhalf. He scored a try in the 46th minute and had a beautiful kick-pass to Nate Comiskey in the 64th minute.
 
Freshman Elliott Lewis, starting his first game at openside flanker followed up his earlier try, adding another score in the 43rd minute. Michál de Beer, making his second start of the season after missing most of the year with an injury suffered in the Fall sevens season, scored the final try of the game for the Bears.
 
BYU added two late scores, but it was the Bears who proved their resilience, earning the hard fought victory.
 
After the game, captain Rand Santos shared his thoughts.
 
"I just want to thank BYU for making the trip," Santos said. "We weren't very happy with the three tries we allowed, and the turnovers we had, but I think getting a win matters, we'll look to build on the match."
 
Vice captain Cade Crist added his praise for the team's performance.
 
"BYU is always a good side," Crist said. "So it's good to get a win, especially a big west coast win, so I'm happy with the result."
 
BYU head coach Steve St. Pierre added his thoughts.
 
"We knew that the standard was going to be high coming into here, and obviously our performance wasn't up to that standard," St. Pierre said. "All credit to Cal for coming out here and playing a good game. We'll take the development areas and learning opportunities from this game and hopefully be better going forward because of it."
 
"We appreciate the Cougars and wish them the best going forward," head coach Jack Clark said. "With a bye next week, that's it for February. Our team needs to regroup for a challenging March."
 
Scoring Timeline:
Cal vs. BYU
3:00  – Malae Tanuvasa, 5, Strider Fountaine, 2 (BYU)
7:00 – Brice Muller, 5, Filip Edstrom, 2
13:00 – Filip Edstrom, 5, Filip Edstrom, 2
16:00 – Solomon Williams, 5, Filip Edstrom, 2
22:00 – Elliott Lewis, 5, Filip Edstrom, 2
25:00 – Masi Koi, 5, Oliver Sinclair, 2
37:00 – Oliver Teague, 5
Half: Cal, 40, BYU, 7
43:00 – Elliott Lewis, 5
46:00 – Oliver Sinclair, 5
64:00 – Nate Comiskey, 5, Cormac Saint, 2
72:00 – Michál de Beer, 5, Cormac Saint, 2
74:00 – Spencer Torgerson, 5, Strider Fountaine, 2 (BYU)
79:00 – Strider Fountaine, 5, Strider Fountaine, 2 (BYU)
Final: Cal, 64, BYU, 21
 
Starting XV:
1. Oliver Kirk (Tommy Rainsford 63') 2. Alex Vieira (Jayden Flores 63') 3. Cade Crist (Kimani Laumoli 63') 4. Byron Finley 5. Talae Tuimaunei 6. Brice Muller (Elias Smith 69') 7. Elliott Lewis (Flynn O'Connell 69') 8. Oliver Teague 9. Solomon Williams (Cormac Saint 63') 10. Rand Santos (Peter Symington 63') 11. Masi Koi 12. Filip Edstrom (Oliver Sinclair 24') 13. Michál de Beer 14. Nate Comiskey 15. Oliver Newall