Cal's Ruggers Skunk Chico State 97-12

No, Cal’s reserves aren’t just made up of underclassmen. And simply being a freshman or a sophomore doesn’t keep a player off the First XV, either. In the Chico match, for example, the starting line consisted of three freshman and a sophomore.

Cal has a very deep roster — 63 men, to be exact. Starting line-ups will vary depending upon opponent, match schedule and development needs. Needless to say, with a bench that densely populated — there are, after all, only 15 positions to fill and a limited number of substitutions in a match — the Bears have a large talent pool from which to draw.

Other teams may not have the depth, or the desire, to put up a “B” side. Stanford, for example, scotched a reserve match follow-on to the Scrum Axe game back in January.

(For the record, it should be noted that Cal never refers to non-starters as "B’’s; they’re always dubbed “reserves.” The distinction is more than entymologic. Cal’s rigorous development regimen hones benchers’ skills to a very sharp edge, allowing them to drop seamlessly into “A”-side competitions).

Coach Jack Clark always hopes that his NorCal opponents will agree to a reserve match following each league contest. In a way, it compensates for the fact that local opponents get only one crack at Cal in the regular season (other NCRFU sides meet each other twice).

Cal’s lineups are very fluid, but you’re likely to see the heaviest concentration of experienced veterans (i.e., seniors) in the critical matches against heavyweight competitors such as British Columbia, St. Mary’s and UC-Davis.

To develop players, Cal will often take on Division II sides, starting ONLY freshman and sophomores. There were three such matches this season, against Cal Maritime, Western Washington and UC-Santa Cruz. The underclassmen acquited themselves well, scoring 221 points and allowing only a single try.

Additional development opportunities come from tournament play. This year, the Bears travelled to Los Angeles for the Dennis Storer Pac-10 tourney, a series of seven matches (plus a “friendly” against Claremont College) that allowed the entire bench playing time.

Another tournament, the Las Vegas Invitational, gave veteran Bears a chance to face off against a strong San Diego State side and another opportunity for backbenchers to test their skills against Minnesota and Western Washington.

There’s more “friendly” matches on Cal’s schedule after the St. Mary’s Homecoming Game. When the Bears head up to Vancouver for the second stanza of the World Cup contest against British Columbia, a follow-on match will be played against up-and-coming Central Washington University. Cal’s line-up against CWU will be heavy with underclassmen, allowing the players arrayed against the Thunderbirds a welcomed rest.

About the size and skill level of the reserves, well, size isn’t everything in rugby. Generally, the heaviest players are the fowards; backs tend to be lighter and speedier. The beefiest player on Cal’s roster, at 263 lbs., is first-year prop Cole Huntley. Tipping the scales at only 150 lbs. is sophomore scrumhalf Kyle Caravelli.

Skill levels are often a function of pedigree. There are still limited opportunities for rugby development before college. High school programs are still few and far between. Players coming to Cal from “feeder” schools with active rugby programs, such as Sacramento’s Jesuit High School, Concord’s De La Salle High School, or the primary source of the Lamorinda RFC’s crew, Miramonte High School, usually are jumpstarted in the Cal development program.

Rugby’s a great game and a great tradition at Cal.

I don’t think there’s a better template for modern collegiate rugby than the one fashioned by the efforts of Jack Clark and Tom Billups.

Hopefully, with the Olympic impetus, America will become reacquainted with rugby. It once was THE brand of football played on U.S. campuses, you know.

And let’s not forget that the United States is still the reigning Olympic gold medalist in Rugby 15s.

Buy me a beer sometime and I’ll tell you the back story.

Cheers!

You’ve got a great rugby club down there. Go to any of their matches? They now play at Daniel Webster Middle School at the intersection of National and Sawtelle (a little ways out of Santa Monica proper).

No beer garden, since it’s a public school property, but I’m SURE there’s a suitable venue for tall tales and suds somewhere nearby, no? Up towards Culver City is the Irish Times pub.