Cal's rugby Bears (18-0, 2-0) made a sweep of this year's two-match World Cup contest with a 52-18 victory over the University of British Columbia in Vancouver Thursday afternoon.

A hard-fought and rain-soaked 21-13 win was wrested from the UBC Thunderbirds in the Cup's opening match on Treasure Island February 19.

The Bears have now won the Cup for five straight years, the last two by sweeps. Twelve of the last 15 Cup tournaments have been won by Cal.  

With tries dotted down by senior scrumhalf Conor Ring and his freshman replacement Paul Bosco, the Berkeley visitors went into Thursday's halftime interval with just a 14-13 edge. The Birds drew first blood with a converted try in the 12th minute and maintained a lead with two penalty kicks until Bosco's try was converted by senior flyhalf James Bailes at minute 40.

The Bears then unloaded a salvo of six tries in the second stanza, all touched down by different players including seniors Blaine Scully, Neill Barrett, Derek Asbun and Dustin Muhn. Junior Anthony Lombardo and sophomore Seamus Kelly added their own tries to the seniors' effort. James Bailes was 7-for-8 on conversions.

With the Vancouver victory secured, the Bears will recross the border when they travel to Ellensburg, Wash. to face Central Washington University (4-1, 2-0) for a College Premier Division match on Saturday. CWU is third in the CPD's Pacific Conference behind St Mary's. Cal tops the Pacific Conference table.