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Cal Rugby, National Champions again: Bears capture first Varsity Cup, beating BYU 40-29

Go Bears!

By Avinash Kunnath
Cal Equipment

Cal rugby are national champions again and finally bested BYU after four attempts to capture their first ever Varsity Cup. After three consecutive losses in the final to BYU and three runner-up finishes,  the Bears finally went into Provo and rallied in the second half for a 40-29 win over the Cougars and a national championship!

Lucas Dunne started the scoring for Cal to put the Bears up 5-0 before BYU rolled off 14 in a row. Cal scored just before halftime to cut the lead to 14-12, with the try coming from Zachary Tavenner. BYU got a try and a penalty to go up 24-12 early in the second half, with Michael Bush getting a try to cut it to 24-19. Boyer took most of the conversions early in the game, hitting 2 of 3.

Down 29-19, Cal scored 21 unanswered in the final 10 minutes to close the game. The Bears cut the lead to 29-26 with ten minutes left with a try by Anthony Salaber. A try by Nicklas Boyer gave Cal its first lead since early in the game with 7 minutes to make it 33-29, and Michael Bush's second try of the game capped the scoring and clinched the title for Cal with three minutes left. All three conversions were successful from Russell Webb.

It's the 27th national championship for Cal rugby, and their first in rugby 15s since 2011.

GO BEARS!

(Cable access required - but you can rewatch the entire game on demand)

ROLL ON YOU BEARS!

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