Not even several days of pouring rain, black eyes and facial gashes could keep players from taking the pitch this weekend for the Pac-10 rugby tournament at UCLA.
Eight of the Pac-10 teams arrived for the Dennis Storer Classic. Arizona and Arizona State were absent and the tournament was supplemented by an appearance by Claremont.
“This is a great kickoff for our season,” UCLA coach Scott Stewart said. “It’s an opportunity to evaluate the squad and gain exposure on campus. We expect the best out of everybody.”
Saturday’s round-robin play resulted in three victories for the Bruins, as they defeated Claremont in their morning game, 18-12 and then easily handled Washington in their afternoon match, 59-10.
“Claremont was good,” junior hooker Jeff Sweet said. “We were flat in the beginning and got down at (the) half, but we were able to turn it on in the second half against a tough team.”
UCLA’s third game, which came against Oregon State, resulted in a 30-0 win. This win gave them sole possession of first place in Pool B and allowed them to advance to the championship versus the vaunted Cal side on Sunday.
The Golden Bear rugby team, which has varsity status at UC Berkeley, advanced after winning Pool A, which included Washington State, USC and Oregon.
“We always come out with the intention to win,” UCLA’s senior captain and flanker Allen Chen said. “We come to compete. Against Cal, we try to play well as a team and execute what we practiced with set pieces, rucking and scrums.”
Amid Sunday afternoon rain showers, the top-ranked Bears simply outclassed UCLA’s side, winning 59-0. The Bruins had difficulty maintaining possession on offense and defensively had no answers for the Cal attack.
“What we take away from this game is that our guys tried hard and never backed down,” Stewart said. “There was no question that we were outmatched; they played more physical from the start, and we weren’t able to get any momentum going.”
It is unlikely the Bruins will face such stiff competition again until the end of the season, where they hope to qualify for the 16-team national tournament.
“That’s the toughest competition in the whole country,” Stewart said. “I told the team that for our next game, that’s the speed we need to maintain.”
The Bruins begin their league season on Feb. 8 against UC Santa Barbara.
For many players on the team, the tournament served as preparation for the upcoming season and a chance to gel with teammates.
“This season we have the opportunity to do well,” Sweet said. “In order to make playoffs, we’re going to have to beat teams better than the ones we played this weekend.”
To compensate for its lack of size and maximize its mobility and number of skill players, UCLA plans to use a unique strategy this year.
“We’re not the biggest side,” Stewart said. “We have a lot of speed, so if we make our tackles, we can put the ball in the open and take advantage of our mobility.”
Stewart also uses a deep rotation. He used 32 different players through the first two games of the tournament to prevent overextending his team.
“Although our team is not as big, we are very athletic,” Chen said. “We need to utilize our body positioning, skill and organization to beat larger teams.”
According to Stewart, success in the league season will be heavily dependent on whether or not the squad can stay healthy.
“Each game gets progressively tougher,” Stewart said. “We need to stay healthy because we have a talented side and we can compete with anyone. We’ve matured enough to close out games we’ve lost in the past; we need to take those opportunities to win.”
Despite the weekend’s downpour, both players and coaches agreed that the mud and drizzle were nonfactors, though one Cal player lost his cleat in the middle of the final match on Sunday.
In Sunday’s other games, Oregon State and Washington State tied for third place with a 19-19 draw, Oregon beat Washington with a 32-0 win for fifth place, and Claremont beat USC 27-0.