GRR's #1 Navy visits GRR's #2 Cal in Berkeley Saturday at 1PM local time, in a game that could be a D1A final preview.
The game is held on Cal's reunion weekend. Cal Rugby honors major champions on anniversaries in multiples of five. So the USA Rugby collegiate champions from 1981, 1986, 1991, 1996, 2001, 2006, and 2011 (which was the first D1A title) are honored. The 2016 Varsity Cup champs and 2016 CRC champs will also be honored.
Both Navy and Cal rested last week in preparation for this game.
Navy is known for a few things in their game:
- A lineout-and-maul that is very difficult to stop, and, combined with Roanin Krieger's goalkicking, means that if you give up a penalty within 60 meters of your tryline, you're in danger or giving up points.
- A strong finish. Head Coach Gavin Hickie makes some unconventional substitution decisions, sometimes running on a large proportion of his reserves in the first half, sometimes having seven forwards on the bench. Whatever they do, Navy has a habit of scoring late ... and frequently.
- Opportunism. Overall pace isn't Navy's MO, but they have players who won't quit, and a dropped ball or unexpected turnover can often turn into a try the other way. Much of that has to do with how hard everyone works to recycle and make sure those chances get finished off.
Navy this season has defeated Royal Navy, Queens, Mary Washington, Mount St. Mary's, Life, Penn State, Army, and MSM once more. Only two of those, Life and Army, were close, and the average score in those games is 43-12.
Roanin Krieger leads the team with 112 points and has made 37 of 41 conversion kicks (90%). He also has six penalty kicks. Andrew Baublitz and Max Smith lead the team with six tries apiece.
Cal is 10-0, with an average score of 67-12. Those wins include highly-ranked teams UCLA, Cal Poly, Arizona, and BYU, and also includes University of British Columbia.
“They are the United States of America’s Naval Academy,” Cal Head Coach Jack Clark said. “A highly resourced team of America’s finest. We have nothing but admiration and respect for them. It is our responsibility to front to their challenge.”
