BERKELEY – California beat Arizona State, 45-5, to win its third straight PAC 7s Rugby Championship Sunday on Witter Rugby Field. The Golden Bears (15-1) also defeated Utah, 34-0, in the semifinals to exit the 11-team, 33-match event unbeaten with the tourney’s most points (226) and tries (38), and fewest points allowed (10 on two tries).

“We were good at looking after our own possessions and that allowed us to play less defense that some of the other teams,” said head coach Jack Clark.

The Bears, who won their six matches with an average output of 37.6 points while yielding only 1.6 to the opposition, can look all the way down the selected roster to acknowledge the totality of their team effort. “We answered the bell four times yesterday and twice today, and it’s good for all of us to finish at the top of the podium,” coach Clark said.

To reach the final on Sunday, Cal got six tries from six different players to beat the Utes and take a 3-2 all-time lead in the two teams’ 7s history. When Utah’s Phil Hinson broke past Andrew Battaglia in the third minute with an apparent angle to score, Russell Webb tracked him down with a timely tackle to preserve the Bears’ shutout.

Against the Sun Devils, Cal held the ball for the majority of the match to neutralize ASU’s attacking potential. “We really focused on playing our system and starving ASU from possession,” said Webb. “They’ve got some good runners and we aimed to have them in front of us in all times.”

The only time ASU got behind the Bears defense was in the last minute of the final, when Peter Ondi scored a try in extra time to avert a shutout.

“Cal did a great job,” said ASU 7s coach Ian Gregor. “Tough result but overall, it was a very enjoyable tournament. These boys are a close-knit group and we’ll keep working to improve.”

The Blue and Gold can call it mission accomplished to have put in their best performance of the fall season in front of a large crowd at home in the first-ever tournament on Witter Rugby Field in the style of rugby that will be contested for medals at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

“This weekend we played our best 7s of the semester and it was a full performance by everyone on the roster,” said captain Jake Anderson. “We had a lot of focus and that’s what we want to see going forward. A lot of players put their mark on that effort. It was important for us to host a well-run tournament and we’re happy with that too.”

Coach Clark also emphasized the importance of providing a quality experience for all the teams at the 2014 PAC 7s Rugby Championship. “We were really happy to have all the teams as our guests,” he said. “Hopefully we were able to provide for them operationally so they could be at their best.”

Praise for the event echoed across the participating teams. “We thank the University of California,” offered Colorado head coach Jim Snyder. “They did a tremendous job of hosting with a good crowd. You couldn’t ask for a better environment.”

The Bears will now buckle down on their academic challenges for the rest of the semester while also transitioning to 15s in training, with their spring 15s season set to kick off in January.

PAC 7s Individual Team MVPs

Arizona: Kyle Rogers

Arizona State: Adam Sandstrom

California: Russell Webb

Colorado: Kellen MacDonald

Oregon: Anton Matscheck

Oregon State: Andy Zimmer

Stanford: Jovi Ripert

UCLA: Grant Penney

USC: Travis Fox

Utah: Taylor Thomas

Washington State: Nate Friemund

2014 PAC 7s Rugby Championship

Sunday Results

Oregon 40, USC 0

Colorado 21, Oregon State 14

Arizona 29, Washington State 5

Arizona State 17, UCLA 12

California 34, Utah 0

Stanford 12, Oregon 7

Washington State 34, Oregon State 7

Arizona 21, Colorado 10

USC 10, Stanford 5

UCLA 26, Utah 19

California 45, Arizona State 5