Thanks to soggy field conditions, Cal rugby's frosh/soph bench won't get a chance to ply its trade against the UC-Santa Cruz Banana Slugs Sunday.

Weather forced the cancellation of the Bears' last pre-season match along with a slew of other College Premier League games.

In the top-tier Pacific and Western Divisions, Central Washington's meeting with Western Washington was also put off as well as Utah's clash with Utah State. 

Cal relies upon match-ups with Division II sides like UC-Santa Cruz to develop the talents of its reserve line-up. 

It's not as if the frosh/soph bench hasn't had a chance to play this season. The last time the underclassmen took to the pitch en bloc, they drubbed Utah State 99-5 at the Las Vegas Invitational Tournament. Earlier, the reserves laid an 85-0 beating on DII powerhouse Cal Maritime.

In January, though, the Second XV lost an opportunity to play in the now-traditional pre-season opener against Humboldt State because of weather.

With the Santa Cruz game cancelled, the 15-0 Bears now look forward to the first match of the College Premier League season on March 5 against San Diego State. The Aztecs are 2-2 in the pre-season, scoring wins against Arizona State and UCLA while falling to BYU and Arizona.

SDSU last challenged the Bears in the 2010 Las Vegas Tournament, scoring the first tries of the season against the Strawberry Canyon lads. The Aztecs ultimately succumbed to Cal, 52-19.

Eleven other CPL matches are slated for March 5. Contests in the Pacific Division include Central Washington vs. Claremont, St Mary's vs. UC-Davis and UCLA vs. Cal Poly SLO.