West Coast D1A Teams Embrace Early Matches
West Coast D1A Teams Embrace Early Matches
One of the things college rugby fans will be seeing as we move into winter is more rugby action from the West Coast among D1A teams.
Saint Mary's has already played Cal State Long Beach, San Diego State, UCSC, and San Jose State. This past weekend the Gaels played UC Santa Barbara. Many of the games Saint Mary's is playing are designed to give newer and younger players some game time and to build depth. The Gaels have 25 games on their schedule for this season (if we count split-squad double weekends) and that's before the playoffs begin. To navigate that schedule they need depth.
Not all of the fall/winter games are buildup games. In a little less than two weeks, Saint Mary's will play Life University at the CRAA Fall Classic. That game will be a massive test for both teams but perhaps a bit more for Saint Mary's. After all, Life has been in the middle of a challenging Rugby East season and should be a bit closer to mid-season form.
Still it's a good test for both teams well before playoff time, giving them both a good indication of how they match up against a top team from another part of the country.
None of this is particularly new for Saint Mary's, except perhaps the Fall Classic game. The Gaels have a history of playing games in November, sometimes loading conference matches in the fall and winter so there's more space for the likes of BYU or Cal later on.
Speaking of Cal, here's where we see something new. Cal played Cal State Long Beach this past weekend, and that is a big change in how the Bears approach their rugby season. Generally Cal kicks off their season in January, usually with the Storer Classic. But this year the Bears have decided to get on the field earlier. Like Saint Mary's, Cal won convincingly over CSULB, but that's not really the issue for the Gaels, the Bears, or even the 49ers. This is about time, testing newer players, and doing the thing that motivates players—playing games.
Cal's lineup against Long Beach was pretty experienced. Cal played in the two West Coast 7s tournaments (something Saint Mary's doesn't do) and this November clash with Long Beach will be their only game until January, but it is a notable change. Overall the Bears have 14 games on the slate before the playoffs—including split-squad weekends. Notable on the schedule is University of British Columbia, which used to be an annual home-and-away series and then was off the schedule entirely, but returns with one game in Berkeley February 16.
UCLA on Tour
The hosts of the Storer Classic, UCLA, is going one step further by playing Indiana in October (and winning) and then by going on tour this month.
The Bruins have University of Bristol, Oxford University, and University College, Dublin on the tour schedule in the space of a week. Sunday they beat Bristol 31-12. This followed on from some warmup matches with (of course) CSULB, OMBAC men's club, and Belmont Shore men's club.
Going into that October win against Indiana UCLA Head Coach Harry Bennett said he was less worried about testing players or testing combinations and more focused on winning the game. They took their best available team and added that Indiana demanded respect. That's the approach on this tour, too. Really, against those three opponents, that is the only attitude you can have. Remember that UCLA hosted Oxford last winter and won 20-12. That was the opening salvo in a very good season for UCLA.
Clearly Bennett wants his players to get used to playing at a high level for a longer period.
It's not just these three, although we're highlighting these three. Clearly Long Beach State wants to get games and Head Coach Peter Sio wants his players to see what the standard is. Grand Canyon went on tour to Colorado, and lost both games, but that's not the end of the world ... it could have great benefit going forward.
Arizona has been known to play fall games but again they have usually used those games to ease into the meat of their season. This year they are 5-0, having beaten UTEP, New Mexico, Arizona State, Colorado State, and U. San Diego. (They also played a frosh-soph game vs GCU.) But now it all gets a bit more serious as the Wildcats will also go to the Fall Classic and face off with a very good Mount St. Mary's team. For those who do rankings, this is one of those very valuable games which pits teams that aren't conference leaders (at least not yet) but are usually ranked in that 10-20 range. When those teams are far away from each other it's rare to see them meet—this will be an East-vs-West matchup that could tell fans a lot.
