UCSB, Cal Poly Take Steps Forward in California Conference
UCSB, Cal Poly Take Steps Forward in California Conference
Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara both won over the weekend in California D1A action and that matters for both of them.
With Cal State Long Beach's game with UCSC being postponed there were only two games in the conference. Cal Poly is now 6-0 in the conference after beating an improving UC Davis side 63-14. The Mustangs have won every game by a wide margin, and in fact 63 is the low-water-mark in conference play for Cal Poly so far.
So far, of course, because they haven't played 4-0 Saint Mary's yet, and do so this coming season. But Cal Poly is playing a fast, wide style and should cause Saint Mary's some problems.
Meanwhile, UC Santa Barbara has won four in a row. That's really nice, but when you consider they have never won more than two games in any previous D1A season, you can see how much of a turnaround that it.
Neil Foote became the Head Coach back in 2021 and he has been building the squad since then. The vast majority of the players have not played rugby before, but he has been molding them and getting them to embrace the little cultural things about rugby (respect for opponents, intrasquad camaraderie). It has worked. After opening their conference season with losses to Saint Mary's and Cal State Long Beach, the Gauchos have beaten Sacramento State, UC Davis, San Diego State, and, most recently, Santa Clara. Those results hhave not been especially close.
And they're doing it in different ways.
"In our last match against Sacramento State the outside backs were the stars of the show, but this time the forwards had their time in the sun," said Foote. The backs scored 10 of the 13 tries against Sac State, and the forwards scored nine of 12 against Santa Clara. Loosehead prop Daniel Bray had four tries against Santa Clara.
"Thee has definitely been something in the water since our loss against Long Beach," said Foote. "We have had a few of the injured players return, but more importantly the team hs understood that the strength of the team, both on attack and defense, is the entirety of the team as a whole. We have been pretty tough on defense with our loose forwards being inspirational."
They haven't given up a try in about 280 minutes of rugby. On attack that team-as-a-whole approach has manifested itself in players passing more, especially in open play. It's no longer one player running hard and making a break like a running back, but a player breaking the line and looking for support. It doesn't matter who scores the try, just that the try gets scored.
The halfback combo of Jack Hayes and Marcus Nguyen have run the attack and set the example of being unselfish, while captain Ryan Chambers has been an inspiration. Having players who have never played rugby is tough because Foote has to do a lot more recruiting, but he also teaches the skills and work habits from the beginning. Now that players are in their second and third seasons under the coach, they are starting to use those skills more.
Unofficial California D1A Standings
| California D1A | W | L | T | PF | PA | PD | BT | BL | Pts |
| Cal Poly | 6 | 0 | 0 | 499 | 53 | 446 | 6 | 0 | 30 |
| UCSB | 4 | 2 | 0 | 250 | 152 | 98 | 4 | 0 | 20 |
| Saint Mary's | 4 | 0 | 0 | 332 | 35 | 297 | 3 | 0 | 19 |
| CSULB | 3 | 2 | 0 | 151 | 186 | -35 | 3 | 0 | 15 |
| UC Davis | 3 | 3 | 0 | 146 | 269 | -123 | 3 | 0 | 15 |
| San Diego State | 1 | 4 | 0 | 135 | 283 | -148 | 4 | 0 | 8 |
| UCSC | 1 | 2 | 1 | 106 | 222 | -116 | 2 | 0 | 8 |
| Santa Clara | 1 | 4 | 0 | 99 | 275 | -176 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Sacramento State | 0 | 6 | 1 | 83 | 380 | -297 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
