Cal Rugby wins the PAC 7s Championship!

In news that will surprise no one, the California Golden Bears rugby 7s team is PAC conference champions! This is the seventh win in the past eight years for Jack Clark’s legendary squad.

The Bears kicked off play on Saturday by sweeping all three of our games and moving onto the semifinals on Sunday against the UC L.A. Bruins. Plagued with injuries, things looked rough for California as we trailed 12–10 at halftime, but were able to rally back with a last-minute try for the 20–19 win. (Mirroring the final score of our win in football over the Washington Huskies.)

The finals has the same match-up for three years running now—the Bears against the Arizona Wildcats. With a new strategy and line-up to accommodate our injuries, California was able to walk away with the 24–7 win and the title of conference champions.

“One of the biggest things that helped us win this tournament was the inexperienced guys’ stepping up and getting comfortable in their roles,” said [junior Sam] Golla. “In the final, we were able to outmuscle Arizona.”

...

”It was a gutsy second day for us,” said head coach Jack Clark. “Because of our injuries, we needed to field a different team and play differently. The team was excellent in adapting. It was a good way to finish the fall competition.”

The rugby 7s team ended the season with a 15–4 record and the PAC 7s championship. Clark and the Bears will definitely be looking to continue this success with the traditional 15-player game in the spring season.

Check out the Pac-12 Network highlight below:

Sam Golla talks about winning back-to-back Pac 7s championships.

Congrats and go Bears!