Golden Nuggets: Cal Battles British Columbia in the Opening Round of the World Cup

A few days after annihilating its rival across the Bay, Cal Rugby faced its other rival in the opening round of the World Cup. Cal took a 15-point lead into halftime, but a strong second half from UBC closed the gap to 9.

UBC outside center Nate Rees scored two tries for the visitors as the T-Birds (12-1) suffered their first loss of the year. California (8-0) now carries a nine-point advantage into the rematch in Thunderbird Stadium March 23 in Vancouver, where Cal will attempt to win the two-match series decided by total points in both matches.

"The whole UBC outfit played really well but to our guys, a really courageous performance," said captain Seamus Kelly. "The guys up front that needed to put up a big performance really stepped up and played well. It was a team win in the full sense of the word."

Jack Clark was pleased with his team's performance.

"It was a really brave victory and it’s hard to express how appreciative I am of the effort our boys put in. We played really hard," said head coach Jack Clark. "When you put your hand up for selection in this match, you’re asking for responsibility and I think team really delivered. With the exception of a few moments we played fantastic defense. We read what was before us in attack well, which resulted in some big tackles and the two intercepts by Jared. We have some inexperience and new roles in the forwards, but they battled hard and collectively had some big moments."

The UBC staff was also impressed by relatively young Cal team.

"I’ve got a lot of respect for the Cal program and its athletes. They were excellent," said UBC head coach Ramses Langston.

"Maybe it wasn’t the most experienced Cal forward pack but they’re still a really big and physical pack, no matter what happens," added T-Birds general manager Spence McTavish.

Cal faces UBC again on Sunday March 23rd.

Water Polo

• The fourth-ranked Bears defeated no. 11 Cal State Long Beach and no. 16 Santa Clara in Saturday's doubleheader.

Track and Field

• Chioma Amaechi broke her own school record with a 21.75m mark in the weight throw.
• Tom Blocker set a new school record with a time of 6.74 in the 60m.

Gymnastics

• The eighth-ranked men's team lost to no. 4 Ohio State.
• The no. 24 Cal women set a school record with a road score of 196.725 to sweep San Jose State and Sacramento State.

Tennis

• After going unbeaten in singles matches at the ITA National Women's Team Indoor Championships, Zsofi Susanyi and Klara Fabikova were named to the All-tourney team.
• The men's team opened the ITA National Men's Team Indoor Championships with a 4-3 win over Mississippi State.
• The men suffered their first loss of the season against no. 1 Virginia in the quarterfinals.

Swimming and Diving

• If Missy Franklin's swimming career doesn't work out, she can probably make a living breakdancing.
• Cal lost to Stanford in the final dual meet of the season. Coach McKeever isn't too concerned and believes her team is well suited to the upcoming Pac-12 and NCAA championships.

Softball

• Cal opened the Cambell/Cartier Classic with a loss to San Diego State. Despite nine hits, the Bears could only muster three runs.

Baseball

• The Bears opened the season with a 7-0 shutout win over no. 18 Texas.
• Cal split Saturday's doubleheader.

Basketball

• The women's team defeated Arizona 65-49 but lost Brittany Boyd to an ankle injury.
• Have you heard this one before? The men's team starts off slowly, falls behind by double digits, and rallies for a comfortable win.