Cal Star Becomes First Bear to Win National Rugby Player of the Year

Two days after leading Cal to its second straight national D1A college rugby title, Bears senior scrumhalf Solomon Williams was named the winner of the Rudy Scholz Award, which is given annually to the nation's top college rugby player.

Solomon is the first Cal player to win the presigious pprize, which is rugby's version of the Heisman Trophy. It is somewhat surprising that Williams is the first Cal player to win the award, but this is only the 11th year that the Scholz Award has been presented.

Williams was the quarterback of Cal's powerful offense, initiating the effective Bears' attack that utilized its speed and skill to score 50 points or more in 13 of its 15 games against college 15s squads this season. The Bears finished 17-0 and averaged 66 points per game, and head coach Jack Clark called Williams the glue that holds the team together..

The Bears defeated Navy 36-22 on Saturday to win the national title for the second straight year, and the Bears finished with an unbeaten season for the first time since 2011.

“I’m very honored and blessed to receive this award,” Williams said in a statement provided by Cal. “There’s a lot of guys on this team that are also deserving of this award, so even though I won I’m proud to play and work alongside them, and it makes my job a whole lot easier having these guys around me.”

Williams was one of four finalists for the award, along with Roanin Krieger of Navy, Dom Besag of Saint Mary’s, and Logan Ballinger of Life University. Apparently Williams won the award by a narrow margin.

“This was very, very close,” said Goff Rugby Report Editor Alex Goff, who oversees the nomination and selection processes along with the Washington Athletic Club in Seattle. “That is an indication of how many good players there are in the collegiate game. The process for getting our finalists was very close. Congratulations to Solomon, because he had to get past some excellent talent."

Williams is scheduled to graduate on May 16 with a degree in Data Science, but he is hoping to play rugby overseas after graduation.

"Our team and University are so proud of Sol,” Cal head coach Jack Clark said in a statement from the school. “He is as good of a player as we have ever had, and he’s the glue that holds our team together. He is a Cal man through and through.”

The Scholz Award is named after Rudy Scholz, a standout football and rugby player at Santa Clara University. Scholz was a decorated veteran of WWI before playing scrumhalf for team USA in the 1920 and 1924 Olympic Games, where the USA won gold each time.

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