Nov. 12, 2008

BERKELEY - With a slate of fixtures that could exceed last year's 25-match journey to the national championship, the 2009 schedule for the University of California rugby team will test the Golden Bears with a wide variety of opponents, from local competition and traditional rivalries to teams Cal normally does not see until the national postseason and a rematch against the Rugby Super League champion.

Witter Rugby Field will also host Pools A and C of the national postseason's Rounds of 16 and 8 from April 17-19.

"This schedule should provide us the right mix to develop our team," said head coach Jack Clark. "The frosh-soph, reserve-grade and varsity teams will all share in the responsibility of representing our University in match play. I imagine we'll be underdogs a few times out and we'll additionally stress the team with double-headers and a variety of venues and environments, all of which is important to building the team we want to become."

The season begins Jan. 10 and continues a week later with a trip to the UCLA Tournament, where the Bears will seek to win their fourth straight weekend gathering of fellow Pac-10 universities.

A Feb. 6 clash against the University of Calgary stands as an early wrinkle in the schedule, with Cal meeting the Dinos as the Friday night featured match of the Kickoff Tournament in Sacramento, a major assembly including many of the best high-school teams in the nation.

Following a Sunday tilt at Stanford for the Scrum Axe, the Bears will travel to the San Diego Invitational to face Virginia Military Institute, Wyoming and Navy on Friday, Feb. 13, giving the Cal roster a stout test in a triple-header. VMI offers an opportunity for the youngest members of the team, with the latter two matches coming against frequent national postseason participants. The Midshipmen, who played Cal in the 1994 national championship and have advanced to at least the semifinals nine times since 1980, seek to return to the postseason in a difficult Mid-Atlantic Region, while the Cowboys will go into this spring's West Region playoffs as the top seed hoping to make the national postseason and a run for their fourth trip to the semis.

Said coach Clark of the Navy-Wyoming portion of the triple-header, "The plan will be to split our team in some form and field two solid sides. These are well-coached, good teams and spreading the playing experience throughout our ranks will help us down the road."

The annual `World Cup' series resumes for its 88th year when the Thunderbirds from the University of British Columbia arrive in Strawberry Canyon for the first match of the home-and-home series Feb. 21 on Witter Rugby Field. The Bears visit Vancouver to wind up the two-match competition on March 26, with the team that piles on the most combined points taking home the trophy that was first awarded by the Vancouver World newspaper.

Last year, the Bears retained the cup for the ninth time in the past 12 years, splitting the two-match series with their only loss of the season at UBC, but winning the 'World Cup' on total points.

"We have the utmost respect for the T-Birds," Clark said. "Our histories have become entwined around this competition. To say the matches are important is an understatement."

Before the second leg of the 'World Cup' takes place, the Bears travel to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to play the featured match of the 2009 Ruggerfest against New York Athletic Club, winner of the 2008 Rugby Super League championship. NYAC features former Bears captain Andrew Lindsey, who wore blue and gold the last time these two teams met in 2006 on Witter Rugby Field, and who started at flanker for NYAC in their 2008 RSL title win.

After that 2006 meeting between the 2005 collegiate and RSL champs, Cal repeated the matchup in 2007 against '06 RSL champ Old Mission Beach Athletic Club on Witter Rugby Field, then played OMBAC again in 2008 in San Diego when a fixture against '07 RSL champ Belmont Shore did not materialize.

The Bears will sandwich Saturday matches in March vs. UC Davis and at Saint Mary's College in front of the UBC rematch `World Cup' decider before winding up their regular season at Pacific Northwest powerhouse Central Washington March 28 on the way home from Vancouver. The match against the Wildcats looks to be an opportunity for Cal's reserve-grade with the varsity having just played the Thunderbirds in Canada.

The Bears will have completed their schedule hoping to have secured one of the Pacific Region's four seeds in the 16-team national playoff field before shifting into "April Drive" for the run-up to the Rounds of 16 and 8. The national semifinalists who emerge from that April 17-19 weekend will compete at the national championships May 1-2 at a location soon to be announced.

It all adds up to an exciting season to honor the 127th year of Cal rugby.