Sometimes a very strong college team, especially one with significant depth, will suit up for games in different locations, or first-side-level games against multiple opponents.
That's what will happen this weekend. UC Santa Cruz has started very well in the California Conference and is looking to make a move there, but this weekend they take on Cal, which, of course, is a strong team. (Fun fact, UCSC flyhalf Tobias Williams may well suit up opposite his brother, Cal scrumhalf Solomon Williams.) Cal will also face off with Utah Valley University in a doubleheader.
Not to be outdone, Saint Mary's travels to British Columbia to play Trinity Western with a 1st and a 2nd side. Meanwhile, another squad will stay in California to travel to UC Davis for a California Conference game. UCD looked pretty dangerous against UCSC last week and produced some good tries in a 34-24 loss. They had the majority of possession against UCSC and converted some of that into points, but would like more.
Another team playing a cross-border game is Central Washington. Coming off their season opener, a loss to University of British Columbia, the Wildcats now host University of Victoria.
That game, said CWU Head Coach Todd Thornley, "was great for us as UBC put us under a tonne of pressure and we struggled to respond at times, so we look forward to the opportunity to write some wrongs. UVIC are well-coached and very dangerous, so we will have be at our best to have a chance of getting the result we want. Our group is learning to prepare and train at a level that enhances our growth daily so we are defiantly a work in progress but a great group of young men to be around."
An independent D1A team (something we're seeing more of since the dissolution of the PAC Conference), CWU is used to treating every game as a potential playoff game. That said, losing a fairly close one to UBC isn't a reason to be discouraged.
