Feb. 25, 2009
BERKELEY - California's two-day, three-match visit Sat.-Sun., Feb. 28-March 1, to Florida features clashes against the Eastern Penn and Florida College All-Star teams wrapped around a renewed rivalry with New York Athletic Club, the 2008 Rugby Super League champion.
Saturday night's 7 p.m. ET kickoff at Tradewinds Park in Coconut Creek against Winged Foot challenges Cal's students for the fourth straight season to take on an elite senior men's team with a significant experience gap for the Bears.
"It's what makes the NYAC match a good opportunity," said Cal head coach Jack Clark. "A cross-country trip to play a really good team will be a lesson-rich experience. We'll learn from the experience and it will be fun. It's fun to compete."
Further depths of Cal's roster will be tested against the Eastern Penn College Reps at 1 p.m. Saturday and the Florida College Reps Sunday at 10 a.m. (both ET).
NYAC features Cal captain Andrew Lindsey '06 and U.S. National Team veteran Louis Stanfill '08, both former Bears who will start in the forwards for Winged Foot.
The prospective reunion does not resonate too well with coach Clark: "In all honesty, I hate our team playing against Andrew and Lou. I would be happier competing against guys we just respected, but didn't consider part of our rugby family."
"We're pretty pumped to play Cal," said Lindsey. "I'll always love being a Bear and it's no fun going against your own, but it should be a hard-hitting, clean match."
Stanfill said he is "very excited to play a team that I respect so highly" in his alma mater He recalled the attitude he had going into the Cal-NYAC match as a student in 2006: "My thought then was to go out and play as hard as I could."
"People know Cal as the best team in the nation and it's a fair comment; however, they are facing more mature and more experienced players [in NYAC]," said Stanfill.
While the more experienced and battle-tested NYAC forwards figure to present the most formidable challenge for the Bears, Cal could hold their own against Winged Foot on the outside with its speed and kicking.
Saturday marks the third occasion on which the Bears have faced the reigning RSL champion. In 2006, Cal hosted NYAC when it visited Witter Rugby Field having won the 2005 RSL title. The Bears handed Winged Foot a narrow 33-27 defeat.
The following season, Old Mission Beach Athletic Club arrived as the '06 RSL champs and returned the favor, beating Cal in Berkeley, 36-30. In 2008 the Bears won their rematch over OMBAC in San Diego, 37-15, after proving unsuccessful at arranging a fixture with '07 RSL champ Belmont Shore.
Saturday's meeting will be champs vs. champs once more, as NYAC came away with the '07 RSL title last May with its 31-28, sudden-death overtime win over Belmont Shore, the same month Cal won its 24th team title with a 59-7 win over BYU.
"I have no idea how we'll do," said Clark of Saturday's showdown. "We're a ways off from where we want to get to as a team and we've been less than satisfied with a few of our performances. The good news is we're an honest and hard-working team. The students want to build a team they can be proud of, so I think we'll continue to improve and hopefully reach our potential in the end."
