The British Columbia-California collegiate rivalry enters a bit of a new chapter with UBC at Saint Mary's this weekend.
As reported on a little earlier—Saint Mary's Looks North as 2023 Opens—UBC will take on Saint Mary's instead of Cal this week, emphasizing the tradition of top BC colleges playing not just one (Cal) top California-based college. In the past, UCLA, USC, and Saint Mary's have all been part of the World News Cup, as was University of Victoria. This week we see the Thunderbirds, fresh off a rather dominant Canadian national championship run, take on 2022 D1A Runners-up Saint Mary's in Moraga.
Saint Mary's, deep as they are, will also face UC Davis in their California Conference opener.
Also this weekend we've got the Storer Classic, and while Cal and UCLA have long been the top teams in this tournament, there's more of a statement to make from several improving squads.
Successful Hitout for Many as Cal Wins Storer Classic
UC Santa Barbara is one of those teams, but it's been just about two months since they last played.
"We are excited to be heading south to the Dennis Storer and getting to experience some more rugby against top level teams," said Head Coach Neil Foote. "We don’t have any expectations other than getting a feel for being back into the sport again after the holiday break."
Hit by injuries this early in the season (USA U20 Danny Bray among them), the Gauchos will soldier on.
"We continue the goal of player development from last year and have been fortunate to pick up a number of outstanding athletes from other sports this season so this weekend will be another opportunity to get them comfortable with the ins and outs of rugby," said Foote, who will rely on the leadership of Ryan Chambers and Marcus Nguyen. "We are grateful to Harry Bennett and the team at UCLA for making this tournament happen in the midst of the storms that have been affecting California in the last few weeks; most of all we are excited that Saturday will again be a rugby day and give another opportunity to show our program off in such good company."
UC Santa Cruz is another one.
"[The Storer Classic]It’s such a great, early test of our preparation," said UCSC Head Coach Jeremy Sanford. "We usually come away with some clear work-ons, which is a big help going into conference play. I’m looking forward to spreading the minutes around this weekend and trying some different combinations. It’s a challenging draw but the boys are up for it. It will also be interesting to see how teams handle the conditions. We’re usually blessed with great weather but this winter is a different beast."
As for favorites Cal?
“Our focus during this stage of the season is to get our standards correct around technical alignment and effort,” said co-captain Max Schumacher. “We have a long way to go to get where we want to be.”
