BERKELEY – The Golden Bears take on Brigham Young in the national collegiate championship Saturday, May 2, when the Penn Mutual Varsity Cup Rugby Championship final kicks off at Rio Tinto Stadium outside of Salt Lake City. The match airs live on NBC Sports Network at 4 pm ET/3 pm CT/2 pm MT/1 pm PT.
California (17-1) resumes its rivalry with the undefeated Cougars (13-0) in what will be the ninth championship meeting in the past 10 years between the two programs. The Bears have won five of the eight previous title contests, but dropped the past two, getting edged by three points in 2013 and by 10 in 2014 Varsity Cup finals. Overall, including regular-season and Pacific Coast Championship meetings, Cal maintains a 10-3 all-time series lead over BYU.
“They’re the defending national champions and they’re undefeated. Say no more,” head coach Jack Clark said. “As daunting a task as it is, we love playing BYU. They bring out the best in us, I assume because anything other than our best would result in a hiding.”
Cal earned its trip to the 2015 Varsity Cup final by beating Navy, 52-15, in the national semifinals at Witter Rugby Field on April 18, the same day that BYU beat Central Washington, 35-8, in Provo, Utah, for its slot in the title match. The Cougars were 45-16 road winners over UCLA in the quarterfinals while the Blue and Gold traveled to Austin to dispatch Texas, 100-7, in their April 11 quarterfinal.
The Bears ride into Rio Tinto Stadium on an 11-match winning streak, having closed out the regular season with victories over British Columbia in Vancouver and Saint Mary’s College at home before their postseason wins against Texas and Navy.
Cal’s 57 points in the semifinal against Navy were just shy of its 60.5 ppg season scoring average. Defensively, Cal has yielded 8.5 ppg to the opposition this spring. BYU, by comparison, has averaged 65.3 ppg scored, about one unconverted try more than Cal’s total, and yielded 12.7 ppg on defense in its 15s season.
The two teams have faced five common opponents in their spring 2015 schedules:
Cal vs. UCLA 32-7
Cal vs. UCLA 18-12
BYU vs. UCLA 45-16
Cal vs. Cal Poly 76-3
BYU vs. Cal Poly 74-5
Cal vs. Arizona State 100-17
BYU vs. Arizona State 72-8
Cal vs. Utah 82-5
BYU vs. Utah 50-22
BYU vs. Utah 76-31
Cal vs. Saint Mary’s 27-20
BYU vs. Saint Mary’s 32-28
BYU vs. Saint Mary’s 35-26
Over the last 12 years, including 2015, Cal and BYU have each missed the final four only once -- BYU in 2004 and Cal in 2012. During this span, the Bears have won seven national championships and the Cougars have won four. In the all-time series between the two teams, Cal has faced BYU in 13 matches, winning 10 of them.
Cal vs. BYU All-Time Series Results
1972: Cal 24, BYU 17
1981: Cal 12, BYU 11
1983: Cal 44,BYU 6
1984: Cal 15, BYU 10
2001: Cal 32, BYU 22
2006: Cal 29, BYU 26
2007: Cal 37, BYU 7
2008: Cal 59, BYU 7
2009: BYU 25, Cal 22
2010: Cal 19, BYU 7
2011: Cal 21, BYU 14
2013: BYU 27, Cal 24
2014: BYU 43, Cal 33
Having topped the Midshipmen with disciplined defensive structure and a clean offensive attack, the Rugby Bears are likely to field a starting lineup against BYU that mirrors the one that not only beat Navy, but also the Gales in the victorious regular-season finale following the Bears’ gutty win over the Thunderbirds to close the “World Cup” series.
“I’ve been very pleased with our team. It has been a rewarding season,” coach Clark said. “They boys are a pleasure to work with and they’ve played hard for their University. Further, I think we have a pretty well put together team, competent in most of the areas of the game.”
The front row will be bookended by props Scott Walsh and George Vrame, both of whom played the full 80 minutes in the 2014 final, a contest in which the Cal forwards showed great mettle. At hooker between them will be Michael Bush, who missed the 2014 postseason with injury and will make his championship debut in the No. 2 jersey, having played several minutes as a replacement at No. 8 in the 2013 final before switching to hooker last year.
The second row will see James Kondrat at No. 4 in his second straight Varsity Cup final, joined at No. 5 by newcomer Sione Sina, who has made a great impact in his final year at Cal following the close of his Golden Bear football career.
Co-captain and three-time All-American Alec Gletzer is back to start his third straight Varsity Cup final at open-side flanker. Likely to join him in the back row are blind-side flanker Carl Hendrickson, who saw championship playing time as a reserve in 2013 and ’14, and Connor Sweet, a replacement player in 2014 who would be making his first start in a final wearing the No. 8 jersey this Saturday.
Scrumhalf Paul Bosco and flyhalf Russell Webb form the halfback combination, with both having previously started last year’s final and Webb also playing all 80 minutes as a freshman in the 2013 championship. Nicklas Boyer will also look to get into the action at some point, having started a few big matches this season and as well as having played all 80 minutes of the 2013 championship match.
In the midfield, inside center Anthony Salaber will make his first championship start having solidified that positon with Harry Adolphus outside him at No. 13. Adolphus started as a wing in the 2014 final and came on as a reserve the year before against BYU.
Miles Honens scored a try as a replacement winger in the 2014 final and looks to be the starting choice at No. 11 for this championship. With him in the deep three are fellow winger Andrew Battaglia, a two-try scorer in the 2014 championship final, and co-captain Jake Anderson at fullback, both with the past two Varsity Cup finals on their resumes.
In all, 13 of the Starting XV for Cal have previous experience in the Varsity Cup final, nine as starters. They will be joined by a talented selection of ready reserves as Clark and coaches Tom Billups and Mike MacDonald seek to orchestrate a winning result for what would be the 27th all-time national collegiate title for the Blue and Gold in 15-a-side competition coupled with their consecutive national 7s titles in 2013 and ’14.
Brigham Young enters the 2015 Penn Mutual National Rugby Championship final with similar experience, having lost only two players to graduation following its 2014 title, and admirable accolades under the direction of head coach David Smyth, who has helmed the Cougars for every one of their eight previous championship meetings with the Bears. Coach Smyth is assisted by Wayne Tarawhiti, Kimball Kjar, Steve St. Pierre and Kenny Rivera.
“They are a very experienced and talented team,” said Clark.
BYU’s Alex Vorster, a 6-0, 225-pound hooker from South Africa, is likely to bookended by two experienced props in 2014 Varsity Cup final starter Zane Mendenhall, a junior whose uncle, Bronco, is the head football coach at BYU; and senior Kody Thompson, who started in the 2013 final at flanker before moving to prop, where he started in the 2014 final.
Kyle Lontine could make his second straight national championship start at lock, as could Dan Hubert, a 6-2, 215-pound senior; or Nic Purcell, a junior from New Zealand who started against Central Washington and checks in at 6-7 and 295 pounds.
U.S. international, four-time All-American and captain Kyle Sumsion will be set to lead the Cougars at one flanker position, and he could be joined by Ara Elkington, a Kiwi who would be making his second straight start in the Varsity Cup final. The physical Joe Pikula, also a football player for BYU who played most of the 2014 final, is the likely choice for BYU at No. 8.
Luke Mocke, a 6-1, 195-pound scrumhalf from South Africa, will be making his third straight start against Cal in the 2015 Varsity Cup Final. Outside him at No. 10 is Jonny Linehan, a New Zealander who also started in the 2013 and 14 championships, and the Fijian brothers Jared and Josh Whippy in the centers, where senior Seki Kofe could also feature. The wings could consist of the speedy Jordan Lowry at No. 11 with the 6-4, 205-pound transfer Joshua Anderson, also a converted football player, on the opposite wing. The deep three could be completed by junior Ryan Blaser making his first national championship start at fullback.
The Penn Mutual Varsity Cup National Rugby Championship is the premier rugby postseason in the United States. Since the first National Collegiate Championship, Varsity Cup universities have won a total of 31 national titles in a span of 33 years. Moreover, Varsity Cup universities have earned 68 final four places during this same period, with Air force, Arkansas State, BYU, Cal, Dartmouth, Navy and Utah all having played their way to the final four. Since the inception of the Varsity Cup National Championship, Central Washington University and UCLA have added to the Varsity Cup’s list of final four participants. This brings total Varsity Cup university final four appearances to 76 over the course of 35 years. Varsity Cup universities have been crowned National Champions a total of 33 times in the 35-year history of the National Collegiate Championships.
Following the conclusion of their 15s season, the Bears will prepare to compete at the 2015 Penn Mutual Collegiate Rugby Championship May 30-31 in Philadelphia, where Cal has won two consecutive national championships in 7s.
