Cal Rugby Rolls Past BYU to Stay Unbeaten

What was expected to be Cal’s first rugby challenge of the spring was not a challenge at all as the Bears rolled past BYU 64-21 on Saturday at Cal’s Witter Rugby Field.

Both teams entered the contest undefeated, but it was the Bears who remained unbeaten, improving to 10-0 while the Cougars slipped to 8-1.

Cal is ranked No. 4 in the country in the College Rugby Association of American rankings, No. 2 in the Goff Rugby Report rankings, and No. 1 in the RugbyHawk rankings, while BYU is ranked No. 8, No. 8 and No. 7, respectively in those rankings.

This was the first of the Bears’ four consecutive matches against traditional powers to close the regular season. Cal faces top-ranked Navy in Berkeley on March 7, then finishes with road matches against No. 5 Army on March 14 and No. 6 Saint Mary’s on March 28.

Cal, the defending national champion in rugby 15s, finished off BYU in the first 27 minutes of the contest.

BYU opened the scoring when Keanu Tonuvasa intercepted a Cal pass and raced in for a try for a 7-0 Cougar lead less than four minutes into the game.

But the Bears scored the next 40 points to take a 40-7 lead at halftime.

Cal tied the score at 7-7 when Brice Muller scored a try and Filip Edstrom added the conversion in the eighth minute. Cal took the lead for good when it took advantage of a BYU turnover that led to an Edstrom try and conversion, making it 14-7.

The Bears then scored four more tries in quick succession. Solomon Willimas scored to make it 21-7, then used a rolling maul to score again with Elliott Lewis scoring the try, making it 28-7. Masi Koi then scored again less than a minute later to make the score 35-7 with nearly 13 minutes remaining in the first half.

The rest was just a matter of finishing up. Cal pushed its lead to 64-7 before BYU ended Cal’s run of 64 consecutive points by scoring two late tries.

Lewis, a freshman, was the only Cal player to score two tries.

The only negative for Cal was the fact that Edstrom had to be helped off the field with an apparent leg injury in the first half. His status for the match against Navy is unclear.

"I just want to thank BYU for making the trip," Cal’s Rand Santos said. "We weren't very happy with the three tries we allowed, and the turnovers we had, but I think getting a win matters, we'll look to build on the match."

“BYU is always a good side," Cal’s Cade Crist said. "So it's good to get a win, especially a big west coast win, so I'm happy with the result."

Cal head coach Jack Clark was already looking ahead.

"We appreciate the Cougars and wish them the best going forward," Clark said. "With a bye next week, that's it for February. Our team needs to regroup for a challenging March."