Cal made it official this weekend with two lopsided victories to finish PAC Rugby Conference play 5-0.

The Bears have won the conference, but of course will not participate in the DIA postseason as the Bears have opted, instead, to play in the Varsity Cup. 

Cal defeated UCLA 88-7 and USC 91-7. This finished up a disappointing conference season for UCLA, which beat Arizona State and USC, but lost by 39 to Arizona, 41 to Utah, and 81 to Cal. 

Arizona State finishes at the bottom of the conference after the Sun Devils had to forfeit against Utah last week. ASU’s troubles involving an incident during the B-side game against Arizona Feb. 25 forced the forfeit and could conceivably put their participation in the Varsity Cup this spring in question.

The other question that remains is whether Arizona can clinch 2nd, and thus have an automatic berth in the DIA playoffs. If the Wildcats lose to Utah, they might end up 3rd and could well get a DIA playoff spots regardless, depending on how the rankings fall. Ideally for Arizona, they beat Utah in two weeks and avoid any doubts. All the Wildcats actually ned to do is get a bonus point to clinch 2nd.

As for Cal’s two-game sweep of Saturday, Jake Goena scored three tries against UCLA (who got a lone try from former Greenwich HS standout Yoh Nakayama), William Fuller scored two, and Russell Webb’s goalkicking was on-form as he his six out of six until he was subbed off.

Against USC, wing Evan Coleman scored two in quick succession and logged three on the day, while Elliot Webb scored 19 points. Fuller ended up scoring in both games.

Goff Rugby Report’s 2015-16 HS Player of the Year, Keanu Andrade (Danville), started for Cal against UCLA and scored a try. Last year’s GRR Forward of the Year, Patrick Hesse (Gonzaga), started at flanker.

"It's amazing to play with some of the older guys and get some reps with them, especially in a game like today," said Hesse. "We started off well and kept the pressure on."

Cal Head Coach Jack Clark sees progress for his team after suffering a sweep loss to UBC.

"We were really good in patches of play," said Clark, "but our best rugby is still inside us."

Below are the updated standings. We've assigned a 28-0 score for the Arizona State v Utah forfeit, but not put in a bonus point penalty, which might be incurred.

USC faced largely 2nd sides in the conference, but their games counted in the standings. The Trojans recorded one win, a 31-5 victory over Utah's 2nds. 

“This move to PAC Rugby continues to serve as a reminder of just how far we have to go as a program," said USC Head Coach Loa Milford. "In relation to last year (playing DIAA), the precision of execution has increased ten-fold.  We obviously expected the massive jump in competition; it really shows the difference not just in terms of overall athleticism, but also the advantages of playing in a varsity-type environment. These programs that we compete against all train most days per week. For us, we’re just transitioning to that model and learning how to make it work for the student-athlete. The growing pains are certainly there but we’re exceptionally grateful to experience them.”