College rugby in California and Arizona is moving slowly but it is moving, as several teams have enjoyed pre-season run-outs this fall.

On Saturday, Arizona State put in an impressive performance in beating Grand Canyon University 50-8. Ryan Spiwak scored three tries in a game where the Sun Devils looked in good form for so early in the season.

This result compares favorably to Arizona’s result against GCU in November, which was a 30-25 win for the Wildcats.

Meanwhile, in California, St. Mary’s logged another big win, beating Santa Clara 67-7, following big scores over San Francisco State and UCSC. UC Davis beat Cal Maritime and Santa Clara earlier in the fall. That was a Cal Maritime team that logged a win over UC Santa Barbara already.

Oregon State beat Oregon in an early rivalry game between the two. That’s not California or Arizona, but it’s the West Coast, so we count it.

All of this is just an appetizer for the winter/spring season for these teams.

The Gold Coast starts January 23 with GCU hosting San Diego, and Southern California at UC Irvine. The Pac West also kicks off on that date, with Nevada at UC Santa Cruz, UC Davis at Sac State, Stanford at Fresno State, and San Jose State at Chico State.

The California DIA conference doesn’t get going until February 13. January 23 is also when the NCRC really gets going, with Gonzaga at Eastern Washington, Oregon at Washington, and Washington State at Western Oregon.