GRR: California
Nine players got their first USA Men’s 15s caps last weekend, and it’s always nice to combine a debut with a victory.
But that doesn’t mean it’s easy. While Chris Mattina has been on the world sevens circuit and Tomamso Boni has played 11 times for Italy, so they understand what it takes to play internationally, it’s a wakeup call for most.
One of the most enjoyable D1A seasons in recent memory had to end this way.
In one of the best national finals in D1A history capped off the season with Navy's come-from-behind victory over Cal.
A hugely competitive D1A playoff culminates Saturday at Aveva Stadium in Houston with Navy and Cal facing off.
The 17-0 Navy Midshipmen come in after just barely escaping Lindenwood 12-10 in the semifinal. Cal (13-3) meanwhile exploded for 55 points to beat BYU in their semi. Such a close game and yet it was twi the winning margin of Cal (13-3), which held off Saint Mary's 29-28.
Cal's journey to the D1A final has been an interesting one.
As coaches often say, you learn more from losses than you do from wins, but Cal's history has centered around not worrying about winning, or how much the Bears win by. Instead, it has been about achieving a rarely-reached standard.
Cal rode a massive scoring burst in the second half to defeat longtime rivals BYU 55-31 Saturday at Witter Rugby Field in Berkeley.
This was the second of two D1A semifinals on Saturday, with Navy having won 12-10 earlier in the day.
“Congratulations to BYU on a really fine season,” said Cal Head Coach Jack Clark. “Proud of our boys for advancing.”