May 1, 2007
BERKELEY -
The No. 1 Golden Bears take on No. 3 Navy at 3 p.m. Friday in the national collegiate semifinals at Stanford's Steuber Rugby Stadium, followed by No. 2 BYU vs. No. 4 Penn State at 5 p.m. The winners will meet 5 p.m. Saturday on the same field to compete for the national title.
Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children each day, with ample free parking offered in the stadium's adjacent lot as well as along El Camino Real.
Cal, with its 23-1 record, cannot look past the 15-4 Midshipmen even though the Bears enter the weekend knowing they need to deliver back-to-back championship-caliber performances to earn their 23rd national championship. Having battled Navy many times in the postseason, including last year's 29-12 victory in the Round of 8 to reach the semifinals, Cal knows that Navy is more than capable of winning on Friday.
"Taking nothing away from the other teams in the competition, Navy is the team that I most admire," said Cal head coach Jack Clark about the final four teams in college rugby. "The Midshipmen are tough, fit young men. Their coach, Mike Flanagan, is the dean of the military academies' coaches. We've had epic matches with Navy in the past and they have earned our complete respect."
To reach the semis, Cal rolled through New Mexico and San Diego State in pool play hosted by the Bears, while Navy had quality wins against Air Force and Ohio State in the regular season followed by playoff victories over Clemson and Saint Mary's at State College, Pa., to earn its trip to the Farm this weekend. Navy came back from a 17-5 deficit to beat St. Mary's 24-17 in the quarterfinals thanks to second-half tries by senior flyhalf Paul Bailey and junior lock Steve Terjesen.
The Midshipmen make their 10th trip to the national semifinals featuring top-flight talent like All-American and Navy captain Blake Lindsay, a senior lock who checks in at 6-3 and 225 pounds; Jordan Fogler, a speedy 5-9 junior center; and senior back Graham Cleveland, whose three brothers also played for Navy.
Cal jumped out to commanding leads in both its playoff matches and may have cruised to the semis, but coach Clark and the Bears are still striving to establish the true tenor of their 2007 team. This weekend will offer the final tests of their mettle.
Said Clark, "We are still learning what it takes to reach our best. We have so many students in new roles that we have, at times, struggled with meeting our standards. Team sports are more than just results. The best rewards and satisfaction comes from reaching your collective potential, and this is still in front of us. Like all the teams, we are chasing our own potential."
The winner of the Cal/Navy match will face a formidable championship opponent in either the Nittany Lions or Cougars.
Though seeded second behind Navy in the Mid-Atlantic Region, Penn State had a 31-17 victory over the Midshipmen in the regular season, and defeated Tennessee and Utah in the playoffs to earn its trip to Stanford. The Nittany Lions feature two returning All-Americans in flanker Auggie Manelik and flyhalf Justin Hundley.
Brigham Young, runner-up in Cal's 29-26 national championship win in 2006, is firing on all cylinders once again, having beaten Wyoming and Cal Poly convincingly to set up Friday's second semi. BYU returns many starters from last year's national championship, including three returning All-Americans in No. 8 Ikani Taumoepeau (6-4, 229), lock Craig Clark (6-5, 230) and prop Derek Smith (5-11, 251); and additional talent such as center Taylor Kjar, fullback Sam Thorley and wing Vito Qaqa.
The challenge of preparing for two matches without losing sight of the semifinal is delicate but familiar ground for coach Clark and the Bears. "It's a two-day competition and we can't lose sight of this," said Clark. "All of our planning is in recognition of two matches in two days. Of course we will need to earn the right to play twice."
If the Bears earn that right against Navy on Friday, Cal will have to come through again with a determined, 80-minute performance on Saturday to win their 19th national championship under Jack Clark.
