Two teams with very high expectations meet up Saturday in Berkeley, Calif., as St. Mary's visits Cal.

These teams are not in the same conference, or even in the same playoffs, but that matters little, as they have been rivals for many years, and there have been times when the Gaels have provided the Bears' only tough competition in the USA. 

“Saint Mary’s is an excellent team,” said Cal Head Coach Jack Clark. “They have a unique blend of tough-as-nails guys up front and skilled, evasive personnel in the backline. Collectively, the Gaels are a tough out for the best of teams.”

Clark has called St. Mary's the best broken field team in the country, and he is usually very conscious of what his squad needs to do to remain in their defensive pattern. Meanwhile Cal has certainly improved. They might have lost the two-game series with University of British Columbia, but they did get a 23-21 win on the road against the Thunderbirds, showing that they had made strides since their 19-6 loss to UBC at Witter Field.

It was mostly about work rate and physicality and being careful with the ball for Cal, and it didn't hurt to have flanker Alec Gletzer back. The loose forward is emerging as a game-changer, and his absence in the second half of the first UBC game was a blow to Cal.

Cal's success comes out of precision. They usually execute their lineouts brilliantly, scrum exceedingly well, and don't mess around on defense. They have players such as Patrick Barrientes and Harry Adolphus who can punish errors, and always have tough second row forwards. Sione Sina is a convert from football, and a big, big body, who can throw other bodies around. 

For the Gaels, their reputation as a wild open field team hides some harsh facts about their tight five - namely that they have one, and it's pretty good. Asked to identify when the Gaels shifted from being a competitive opponent to Cal to a team that sometimes beat them, and always worried them, Head Coach Tim O'Brien didn't hesitate.

"The different has to be the front row," said the former USA back. "A quarterback can't play without a good offensive line, and when we got three really strong front-row players in 2008, we started to change as a team. This year, our front row is a group that comes to work every day. They never take a day off and they work their butts off."

That trio is Ryan Pratt, Mike O'Neill, and Dino Waldren. O'Neill, at hooker, is the heart of the team, or at least the pack. Also key for the Gaels has been the play of freshman Vili Helu. Normally a loose forward, he has had to play lock because of the injury to Henry Hall. He might not like it, but, said O'Brien, "he is doing everything he can to be good at it for the good of the team."

St. Mary's can test the wide channels, but they are often just as difficult in tight. They used their forwards to batter through against BYU in two close losses (scrumhalf Holden Yungert had over 80 touches in each of those games, an indication of a lot of phase play), and, as usual, the perceived strengths will be tested on Saturday. Cal has the tough, structured phase play? Well maybe St. Mary's does that. St. Mary's will run from anywhere? Watch Cal score from 90 meters out.

In addition, Cal might be the team you think of kicking penalties to help their scoreline, but St Mary's center Dylan Audsley has been a better goalkicker than Jake Anderson or Harry Adolphus has been for Cal - not by much, but he has been better. This game may well come down to a clutch kick at some point.

Cal owns this series over the last 25 years, winning 22 times (they played twice in 2008) while St. Mary's has won three. However, the Gaels have won twice in the last three years, including a 55-31 drubbing last year that was startling in its convincing nature. But is that just the Gaels punching above their weight on occasion? On paper Cal, with their tradition and resources and steady stream of talent, shouldn't be bothered with little ol' St. Mary's. But that's why they play the game. St. Mary's loves being the Cal spoiler, and that, in part, is why this game is so compelling.