Cal looks to repeat at Collegiate Rugby Championship 7s
By Thom Fain
The Cal Golden Bears look to maul, ruck, scrum, and charge down their opponents en route to a repeat of last year’s national championship finale, and it all goes down this weekend at the Collegiate Rugby Championship.
NBC and NBC Sports will broadcast the event from Philadelphia beginning at 12p.m. Pacific on Saturday, May 31.
After his participation in the national U.S. team, the Bears get reigning MVP Seamus Kelly back in the lineup, which definitely helps the team in chasing down another championship.
The Bears closed out the regular season with a disappointing loss at the Varsity Cup, but the team has an opportunity to exit PPL Park at the top of the heap.
Their first match is against Drexel University on Saturday morning, but there won’t be much time to rest after that — every man on the team is expected to contribute.
“The Sunday knockout-round matches are so competitive and short in duration, it becomes difficult to dig out of mistakes, or even a single error. It should be a thrilling yet stressful championship,” head coach Jack Clark said recently on the team’s website.
In last year’s event, California took a 26-12 quarterfinal victory over Arizona and a 33-21 semifinal win vs. UCLA before eventually winning the championship final, 19-14, over Life University.
For the full schedule and more information on the event, head over to USA Rugby’s website.