The big school rivalry between Cal Poly and UCSB lived up to expectations when the Mustangs traveled down to Santa Barbara last Friday night for their preseason match against the Gauchos. In cold conditions in front of a vocal UCSB crowd, both teams came out firing with some big tackles and solid collisions at the breakdown.

The first try of the night came from a big Gauchos scrum five meters out from Poly’s line. As the ball spilled out the side of the scrum the UCSB scrum half was johnny on the spot for the pick up and dive over the line. Only a few minutes after the restart Poly had their chance for a rebuttal with an attacking lineout inside the Gauchos quarter. A clean take by Bobby McNeal and a strong hit up by outside centre Jake Gersh up the centre of the field put the Poly attack on the front foot. A swift cut back on the second phase saw captain Dave Schaefer, too hard to stop, as he ran towards the goal posts.

Poly’s second try came fairly soon after when fly half Matt Verga punched a kick from inside his own half down towards the corner flag. A determined sprint by Cody Perez and lucky bounce of the ball found the winger in possession only meters from the try. A quick recycle by the Poly support players saw inside centre Andy Early pick and drive his way over the line.

Leading 14-10 at the break Cal Poly started the second half well with continued pressure at breakdown and quick ball movement out wide. That pressure was converted into points when a strong fend and offload by Jake Gersh found Dave Schaefer in support and through for his second try of the night.

After a try a piece to both teams, a determined UCSB put the pressure back on the visitors late in the second half with numerous phases inside Poly’s quarter. Only gutsy defense and some solid counter rucking kept the score still until the last few minutes of the game when Mustang scrum half Alex Frost pounced on some loose ball at the back of a UCSB scrum and ran 20 meters to the try line. Final score Cal Poly 31 – UCSB 17.

All in all a it was a very physical encounter, with some solid passages of play by both teams.

The B side match was just a physical as the A side match but much closer in the score line. The lead went back and forth throughout the match until the final minute when Cal Poly had a penalty within kicking distance. Down by a point, Poly needed the kick for the win. A clean strike by freshman fly half Scott Health gave a jubilant B side the win. Cal Poly B 22 – UCSB B 20.

Cal Poly now travel to Mesquite Nevada to meet the University of Utah who were ranked 6th in last seasons College Premier Division. This match will no doubt be the Mustangs toughest challenge so far this season, but is a game all players are certainly looking forward to.

Lin Price Memorial Match – SLO Mens v Cal Poly

The first match of the 2012 Rugby season was the always enjoyable local derby between Cal Poly and SLO Mens for the Lin Price Memorial Trophy. Under the beautiful San Luis Obispo night sky the two teams stuck it to each other in a very physical encounter at the Damon Garcia Sports Field. The bruising SLO Mens defense was disrupting Cal Poly’s go forward in the first few set plays of the match, but it was not long before the Mustangs settled down and began to find space to attack out wide. Sophomore fullback Dom Ferri showed exceptional speed and agility for the Mustangs and young freshman flanker Matt Ryan led the charge for the forwards causing havoc up the middle of the field. Cal Poly continued to pile on the pressure and the points, with tries scored by Eric Parsons, Dom Ferri, Joe Saldana, Matt Ryan, Matt Verga, Landis Nasser, Andy Early and Captain Dave Schaefer. Final score Cal Poly 79 – SLO Mens 7. Below are highlights from the game.

Cal Poly’s next match is this Friday 13th Jan at UC Santa Barbara kicking off at 7:30pm.

Before this Saturday’s match against SLO Mens, take a look at the highlights from Cal Poly’s last 15s match against UC Davis.

2011 USA Rugby 7s National Championships

The end of the 2011 calendar year saw the Cal Poly Sevens squad travel to College Station Texas for the inaugural USA Rugby 7s National Championships.

The 14 players and 3 staff were met with very cold and gray conditions on the first morning of the championships. These conditions saw most teams get off to a bumpy start. Cal Poly found their feet in the 2nd half of their first round match against the University of Wisconsin and ran away with a 24-12 win. Matt Verga and Dom Ferri led the charge for the Mustangs, capitalizing on some slow defense late in the game.

Poly’s second round opponent and a tournament favorite, Life University, was always going to be the biggest obstical if the team were to progress to the Cup playoffs. The entire squad was confident they could match the known physicality and skill level of the Running Eagles, and they certainly didn’t let anyone down. Two tries a piece after thirteen and a half minutes lead to an exciting final play. A strong tackle and counter ruck by the big Poly forwards saw the ball pop out. A quick pass to Matt Verga and a five yard dash for the try line all but clinched the game and a certain first placed finish in pool B for Cal Poly. But following the successful conversion and no time left on the clock, the referee ordered one last play. Life secured possession from the restart and began their march down the field. Numerous phases later and at least another minute of additional play, Life were on Poly’s try line. After many valiant efforts defending their try line, Poly couldn’t contain the Life offense and a try was scored in the corner. That ended the physically and emotionally exhausting game that was no doubt a benchmark for the tournament.

Although utterly disappointed with the outcome of the Life match, Cal Poly knew they weren’t out of the hunt for a place in the Cup playoffs. If they could score enough tries in their final pool match against the University of Texas, a wild card place was theirs for the taking.

With attack firmly in the mind of every Poly player, it wasnt surprising to see the first try come after less than a minute of play to big seconder rower Bobby McNeal. Excellent team play and ball movement saw a string of tries come to the Mustangs and only one to UT. Final score Cal Poly 39 – Texas 5.

That dominant performance against the Long Horns was enough to clinch the highest 2nd place seeding from all pools and a wild card spot in the Cup playoffs the next day.

On the second day of competition Cal Poly drew number 1 seed Arkansas State in the Cup quarter final. Arkansas St enjoyed a number of big wins in their pool against Air Force, Arkansas University and eventual runners up Central Washington, but Dave Schaefer and his team were more than confident they had what it takes to progress to the semi finals.

Arkansas State jumped to the lead early in the first half after they capitalized on a loose ball the Mustangs tapped back at the restart. Once the Mustangs gain possession late in the half, every touch looked promising. Landis Nasser stood out and set up Poly’s first try, and then finished off the second with some strong play in the midfield by Andy Early. Scores were tied at the break. Solid defense from both teams in the second half kept the scores level for some time. With 2 minutes left on the clock Arkansas St picked up a Cal Poly pass on the fly to run 50 meters to the try line. Poly couldnt find their try line in the remaining minutes of the match, so Arkansas St held onto a 15-10 victory.

With two games left to play in the consolation Plate, a number of new faces stood up for the Mustangs. Young freshman Matt Ryan, Sophomores Dom Ferri & Jake Gersh all played very well and are certain to lead the Cal Poly Sevens charge at next seasons championships. Also special congratulations to Landis Nasser for his selection in the All Tourney Team selected by the USA Rugby All American selectors. Well Done Landis!

Cal Poly’s final position at the National Championships was 8th place out of 24 competing teams. A great effort from the guys and a tournament that will certainly hold them in good standing for all Rugby in the future.

A special thank you to all the coaches and traveling parents and family members who did a fantastic job cheering on the team.

2011 Cal Poly Sevens National Championship Squad

Standing: David Burnett (Head Coach), Dom Ferri, Andrew Early, David Schaefer (Captain), Bobby McNeal, Etuate Varea, Aaron Bordenave, Matt Ryan, Andy Doukas (Assistant Coach)
Nate Nunno, Landis Nasser, Alex Frost, Matt Verga (Vice Captain), Jake Gersh, Joe Saldana, Taylor Goodson, Paul Cappellano (Assistant Coach)

For those of you who are not able to be with the team at Texas A&M, the Mustangs did a terrific job today in the pool rounds of the National 7′s tournament. They had a rough start against the University of Wisconsin but soon got their feet under them and came out on top with a 24-12 win. Then after a 3 hour break they paired up against Life, one of the top teams in this competition. It was a tough game and the Mustangs were up 17-12 with a minute left, but Life was able to sneak into the try zone for the tie and then win it with a conversion, 17-19 Life. Then finally the Mustangs played the University of Texas with hopes of still qualifying for the championship bracket. The video below is of this game and you can watch for yourselves as Cal Poly out preforms the University of Texas and wins it 39-5. Tomorrow the Mustangs will be competing for the Cup, they were able to secure one of the wildcard spots by scoring more points than any of the teams that did not win their pool. It is a great moment for Cal Poly Rugby as they are showing just how good this program is. The first game for Cal Poly is at 10:20, if they win they will play again at 1:20. Best of Luck Cal Poly.

One week out from the 2011 USA Rugby National 7s Championships at Texas A&M, the Cal Poly Rugby Sevens team took to the sand dunes of Montana De Oro State Park for one last tough conditioning session. With only a few days to go the team is looking good and couldn’t be more excited about competing on the national stage. Cal Poly have drawn Life, Wisconsin, and the University of Texas in pool B, which should be a great challenge. Please enjoy the below video of the boys sweating it out for Poly and to assist the team in traveling to the Nationals, please make a donation at www.mustangrugby.org

Our Cal Poly mustangs have been working very hard to prepare for the national sevens tournament.  After defeating Davis on the 19th and then relaxing over the thanksgiving break they have been on the field working to preform as well as possible for the big games.  The boys have been sweating and struggling to do what they can, to be better than they have ever been before.  The new coach Dave Burnett has been giving as much time as possible to help they boys preform at the top of their game, even joining in the practices and taking a few hits.  Below is a video of the grueling practice that the 7s go through to be ready for the tournament.  However they can not do it alone, all this work will be for nothing unless they receive support from their fans.  So please, donate to Mustangrugby.org, help give the players the ability to represent their school in the National Tournament. Don’t let their work go in vain.
 

It’s been a eventful three weeks since the last bit of information crossed these pages regarding the events behind the Cal Poly Rugby Team.

Stating off the list of events, the Archibald cup and founders dinner went fantastically. The Cal Poly A-side defeated Chico 24-0 is a great game that really showed the strength of the Cal poly Forwards and the speed of the backs. At the dinner Alumni members Charles ‘Tom’ Bobrink and Tony Petruzzella were inducted into the founders club. Their speeches were accompanied with cheers and laughter from their fellow alumni and players. Additionally it was announced that the winners of this years Higgens Scholarship were second year players Dominic Ferri and Eric Parsons.

Then the next week the Cal Poly 7′s team ventured up to St. Mary’s national Qualifier. On Saturday they defeated Loyola (24-12), San Diego State (19-17) and Cal Berkeley (21-15). A huge event for Poly since Cal is well known as being a great team. Saturday did not go as well for the Mustangs, they defeated Santclara (32-0) but in the semi-final match against St. Marys, was a rough game and Poly was only able to put up 14 points to St. Mary’s 17. This left the tired Mustangs in the compensation round where they were defeated by UC Davis (19-24). This did not allow the Mustangs to qualify for that nationals 7′s tournament. However due to their performance on Saturday it was decided that the 7′s team would get one of the wild card spots. So, yes, the Cal Poly 7′s team will be in the USA Rugby Men’s College Sevens Championship, Dec 16 and 17, at Texas A&M.

The Poly B and C sides on that same weekend traveled to Santa Cruz for the Annual Slug fest. They played three games winning the first one but losing the second two. Despite the defeats the players kept their spirits up and enjoyed some good old fashioned rugby in the sun.