Golden Nuggets: Another World Cup for Cal Rugby

Four weeks ago the Bears barely held on to win the first match against UBC. After Cal followed that up with an unexpected loss to Cal Poly and a one-point win over Utah, UBC became the favorite to win its first World Cup in six years. Jack Clark had other plans, however.

"From early on this week as forwards, our emphasis was on getting it done," said prop Jeremy Deterding. "We got our heads around how important this game is not only to us, but to past players and the program. We did it as 15 today."

Fellow senior Connor Ring agreed the determination to play well against the Thunderbirds extended to the backs and throughout the squad.

"We had a lot of focus," Ring said. "We got together as a team and found out what's in us."

Ring, Deterding and replacement Zack Klaas were joined in their final "World Cup" foray by four sophomores and a freshman among the starters. Two additional first-years were on the field by the end of the match.

Freshman Andrew Battaglia, who started at wing, said, "It was an honor to play in this match for Cal. I'm very happy with how it turned out."

Also happy for the performance was the large contingent of Cal supporters who traveled to Vancouver to witness the contest.

"It was a really focused effort and I am very proud of the boys," said head coach Jack Clark. "Full marks to UBC as well. It was a good display of collegiate rugby."

After the jump Cal continues to dominate the pool and softball opens the conference slate with a sweep of Stanford.

Swimming and Diving

• Last week the women's team brought home an NCAA title; this week it was the men's turn. Led by Tom Shields, Cal won its second consecutive national championship.

Softball

• Valerie Arioto was the Pac-12 Player of the Week and Jolene Henderson was named Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week. Arioto hit four homers and batted in nine runs this weekend while Henderson threw 17 strikeouts and gave up just one run in 15.2 innings.
• Cal won 4-3 in its second game of the series against no. 9 Stanford.
• The Bears swept the weekend series with an 8-0 win on Sunday.