There is no rest for the wicked, so they say - or maybe it’s no rest for the weary - and certainly there’s no rest for any college rugby team that wants to get to the top.

So it is that programs are seeking out challenge after challenge, knowing (for some) that they might well lose those games, but gain something in the end. The United States Air Force Academy, fresh off a two-game weekend against Life (loss) and Clemson (win) will now look ahead to some team called “Cal” that is, of course, a juggernaut of historic proportions.

The game itself will be shown live on Pac-12 Networks, and will certainly be a sought-after ticket in the Bay Area. 

“We’re really looking forward to having Air Force on campus,” said Cal Head Coach Jack Clark. “They’re an excellent team year in and year out. Typically they are a highly athletic side and well coached.”

Clark is 35-1 against military academies as head coach of Cal, but that one loss was the national semifinal in 2003 against Air Force, a 46-28 result that you know he still remembers.

So Cal will take it seriously, and Air Force Head Coach Denny Meredith knows it.

“We feel good about what we learned and were able to accomplish this past weekend,” said Meredith. “Our showing against Life should have been better, but the boys learned a lot, and seeing as we are about to play Cal and then we’ll face BYU later, we need to learn how to get better.”

Meredith said improvement has to come from playing top teams. He accepts the challenge, as do all of the Falcons players, and now the job is to stay with the game plan, take care of the basics - possession, defense, teamwork - against a team that always takes care of the basics.

Led by Ben Burmester at center and Grigor Kerdikoshvili at flyhalf, Air Force can punish mistakes. 

Cal has enjoyed some very good performances from the Salaber brothers, Anthony (center) and Nick (loose forward),  and with James Kondrat nailing down the second row position, and Harry Adolphus kicking well, the Bears are an imposing team.

But beforehand, anyway, it’s a mutual admiration society. Clark and Cal love playing (and beating) service academies, and playing one of the great college programs is something Air Force welcomes, too.

“The boys are really excited,” said Meredith. “It’s a chance for the boys to play against a really excellent program, at Cal, and we know we need that.”

After Cal the challenges keep coming for Air Force. The Falcons play BYU on Feb. 27 and then send a 7s team to try to qualify for the CRC at the LVI tournament in Las Vegas. Then it’s Colorado State followed by a tour os New Zealand, where the Falcons play Lincoln University, the Royal New Zealand Air Force, and the New Zealand Police Force team.

No rest for somebody, at least.