Cal Rugby Comes Back To Beat UBC 21-13 In First Game Of World Cup

Play was sloppy — for both sides.

You have to wonder, though, who scouted whom in UBC’s Friday match against St Mary’s.

The T-Birds were scheduled to take on the Gaels at Pat Vincent Field, but the soggy weather made a mess of the pitch. The venue was switched to SFGG’s Treasure Island field, the self-same pitched used Saturday.

St Mary’s notched a 34-19 victory, against UBC’s (mostly) reserve side. Coach Paul Horne was forced to swap in starting flyhalf Charlie Jones at the interval to rally the troops. It helped, but wasn’t quite enough.

Cal scouted the match, but to little effect, The Birds, for their part, had a chance to test the pitch without really showing their hand: UBC was holding its starters back for the Cal match.

Coach Clark deployed his veterans, too, which makes the Saturday match even scarier.

The most seasoned members of Cal’s squad were errorprone and, at times, outweighed by the ‘Birds. UBC’s beefy props, particular, often propelled mauls towards the Bear tryline, gaining valuable territory. That action wasn’t seen in Friday’s match.

Cal, too, lost most of the lineouts — and there were a LOT of ’em as a lot of balls were deliberately kicked into touch — yielding momentum to T-Birds.

Now for the praise.

Cal’s fitness paid off. Thanks to Coach Tom Billups, Cal’s side had the stamina to play through the entire 80 minutes, keeping UBC in its own territory for most of the second stanza and eventually shrinking the pitch behind the 22-metre line.

Cal’s second wind — and running game — came in the final ten. Then the Bears finally dug in their boots to capitalize upon a blessedly won lineout and a forced ’Bird turnover for two late tries.

Huzzahs, too, for Bear flyhalf James Baile’s boot. He went 3-for-3 on conversions, the last two shot from very bad lies.

The ball, so to spreak, is now on the T-Birds’ side of the pitch for the second Cup match. UBC will have to outscore the Bears by 9 points to move the hardware back to Vancouver.

Consider the possibilities — a converted try and a penalty kick, two unconverted tries or an uncoverted try and a couple of PKs. That’s a tall order when the Bears are on their game, but not something the T-Birds haven’t done in the past.

The first match was a glorious comeback for the Bears, but it was also a lesson. Hopefully, for Clark & Co., it was well-learned.