Cal Rugby: Bears Rally to Beat BYU

Bears get behind 12-0, but dominate the rest of the match in Provo, Utah

Cal rugby / Photo by Troy Jones

Emmett Cook scored three tries as Cal rallied from an early 12-0 deficit to beat BYU 48-17 in a rugby match in Provo, Utah, on Saturday afternoon

BYU (5-4) scored two tries in the first 16 minutes of the game to take a 12-0 lead. But the Bears (8-1) got a try by Solomon Williams in the 19th minute to get Cal within 12-5, and a Michal de Beer try followed by a made conversion tied the score 12-12 in the 26th minute.

When the Bears' Cook scored his first try try and Rand Santos added the conversion in the 29th minute Cal took a 19-12 lead.  The Bears maintained their lead the rest of the game.

Cal held 19-17 lead at halftime and dominated the second half, outscoring the Cougars 29-0 after intermission.

A Santos penalty kick early in the second half expanded the Bears’ lead to 22-17, and Cook scored the next two Cal tries to put the Bears confortably in front. Cal added two more tries without a BYU response to make the score 48-17 with 15 minutes remaining in the contest.

Cal is ranked No. 4 in the country by the Goff Rugby Report while BYU is No. 12.  

The Cougars and Cal both lost to second-ranked Navy, and BYU also lost to Saint Mary’s, which will be Cal’s final regular-season opponent. BYU’s other defeat came against Arizona, a team Cal beat 46-0.

The Rugby Hawks national rankings place Cal at No. 6 and BYU at No. 10.  The latest College Rugby Association of America power rankings do not include the most recent matches by Cal and BYU, and it has Cal at No. 4 and BYU at No. 6.

Saturday’s contest was the second of Cal’s final four matches of the regular season against traditional high-quality opposition.

The Bears lost to No. 2 Navy 27-3  in their previous match and face Army and Saint Mary’s in their next two matches, both in Berkeley..

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