The playoff match against the UCLA Bruins has been confirmed for Saturday April 3rd at 1pm at UCLA

Dear Parents, Alumni, and All Attendees,

We would first like to thank you all so much for attending our Parent’s Weekend and Alumni Event last weekend. Without your support this club could not function or excel the way it has been over the years. According to the numbers that we have collected so far, the event was able to generate a lot of financial support for the club, as well as provide an enjoyable experience for all those in attendance. This was the most successful parent or alumni event we have had held in a number of years and if we continue to receive this kind of support from our alumni, family, and friends the sky is the limit for the Cal Poly Rugby program. Thank you all again, and we look forward to your continued support of our endeavors.

Sincerely,

CPRFC

Here is an informative article from RugbyMag.com on the sweet 16 seeds that are already clinched and the remaining games that will decide the rest of the spots:

http://www.rugbymag.com/news/colleges/collegemen/the-2010-college-playoff-picture.aspx

The Mustangs have had a dramatic turn around the second half of league and their effort has been rewarded. A match vs. UCLA for the third and final playoff spot for the Southern California Premier League will be played to determine who gets to represent their league at the round of 16. The winner will punch a ticket to Atlanta in mid-April. Since the Mustangs are the underdogs for the match they will be on the road against UCLA.

The game will be played on Saturday, April 3rd on the UCLA campus. Gametime to be finalized.

Everyone is looking forward to Alumni/Parents weekend on Saturday and an always exciting rivalry matchup against the SDSU Aztecs. The Game is scheduled to be played on campus at the Sports Complex.
3rd side vs Bellarmine HS Team at 11am
1st side vs SDSU at 1pm
2nd side vs SDSU at 3pm

Later that evening the Alumni/Parents Weekend Festivities will continue starting at 6:30pm. The location of this year’s Alumni/Parents Dinner is:
American Legion Hall- Post 66
1661 Mill Street
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 US

If you are interested in attending and have not yet been sent an evite please email me at erwatson@calpoly.edu for more information.

The Mustangs had mixed results over the weekend, posting a 15-10 victory over the Bruins from UCLA on Friday, and then falling to the Wildcats of Arizona 31-24 on Sunday. Friday night was a sloppy, hard fought victory, as rain dumped on the field for the majority of the match. The Mustangs scored first as 8-man Alex Murchison, who has taken over the kicking duties, hit a penalty kick to give the mustangs a 3-0 lead. The Mustangs maul was effective all night long, and not soon after the Bruins answered back with a try of their own, Freshman flanker Danny DeAlba was able to score off a Mustang line-out, to bring the score to 8-7. The Bruins answered back to take the lead shortly after half time with a penalty kick, but Cal Poly, who maintained their composure despite the wet weather, scored again on a try from rookie hooker Joe Saldana. The Murchison conversion brought the score to 15-10, and the Mustangs held on over the final twenty minutes, to avenge their loss to the Bruins in Los Angeles earlier this season. “Man it was wet out there,” recalls De Alba,” but it was kinda cool.”

The conditions were better Sunday as the Mustangs played host to the University of Arizona at Talley fields. Cal Poly was looking to avenge a loss suffered to the Wildcats earlier in the year during a dramatic game in Las Vegas. Still feeling the effects from the hard fought Friday night game, the Poly fifteen started slow and allowed the Wildcats to score twice within the first ten minutes of the game. However, the Mustangs came roaring back in the second half, Poly was able to create some offense, including the first try of the year from speedy sophomore winger Tyler Carr. Junior lock Charlie Hamilton had another fine game, while President Aaron Bordenave and Sophomore Flanker David Schaefer muscled their way over the line in the second half. The try of the game and perhaps the season came from All-Star 8-man Alex Murchison as he evaded several defenders for a sixty meter try, Murchison had another stellar kicking game and was two for four on trys that were scored mostly in the corner. The final forty was as intense a rugby match as you will see, and the Mustangs would have been victorious had it not been for an intercept try the Wildcats scored late in the Game. The Final was 31-24 and Poly was granted bonus points in the standings for scoring four trys and losing by seven or less. With those points Cal Poly moves into fourth place in the league, and are in good position to play in a playoff game with the third place team for Southern California’s final seed at the National Tournament. David Shafer reflected on the season after the game,”We have come a long way and really improved every game. You could see our offense really get going in the second half this game, and I got really sun burnt. I think its rad that we got bonus points.” Cal Poly looks to train hard during the Bye week in preparation of rivals San Diego State in two weeks.

Parents, Alumni and Supporters

I wanted to share with you our current standing two weeks out from our last league match and our Alumni/ Parents Weekend gathering. We are 2-5 in the Southern California Premier League with one game to go. We sit 4th in the rankings based on the latest points tally; we will have an opportunity to play for the 3rd playoff seed from Southern California. Our opponent is unknown at this point but will be either the UCLA Bruins or the University of Arizona Wildcats, at their respective facilities. We feel very fortunate for the opportunity and go into this challenge with confidence.

We started the second round of the Premier League run with a bonus point win over UCSB 33 – 8. This was a very hard fought match on Friday night, Feb 19th under the lights, in slick conditions at Harder stadium on the UCSB campus. It was our first league win of the season and shows that hard work and commitment pays off.
The 2nd and 3rd matches of round two were against UCLA and the University of Arizona at our home on a double up weekend, Feb 26 v UCLA and Feb 28 v U of A. Friday night’s match was a single match due weather conditions. Eighty minutes of torrential rain saw the Mustang first side come out with their second league win of the season by the score of 15-10 against a very good Bruin side.

Sunday Feb 28 was an altogether different experience. A glorious, sunny day on the Central Coast saw perfect conditions for Division 1 college rugby. Our slow start and need to play up catch up rugby was our undoing. In the end we picked up 2 bonus points in the loss to the Wildcats. The score was 31 -24 to U of A, however, with a losing margin of only 7 and scoring 4 try’s, we added to our bonus point total and moved up in the standings. We have a bye week this week. It is time to heal up, take care of the details of college academics and prepare for Alumni / Parents weekend and our final league match against San Diego State in front of our home crowd at Talley fields.

I am extremely proud of the accomplishments of our players these last few weeks. The increased commitment level, heart, integrity and trust in the wake of great adversity have been truly impressive and the boys deserve all the credit in world. The pride and commitment I see in this team right now makes us believe anything is possible. I would also like to thank the parents for the emails that I have received asking what they can do for the program. My suggestion and hope is that the parents will begin to organize tailgates and attend games. By all means introduce yourselves to me, the entire coaching staff and other parents when attending the matches. I really enjoy meeting all the parents- please encourage your son to introduce us.

Last, but certainly not least, I sincerely request that all parents and alumni make every effort to attend our Alumni/ Parents Weekend gathering March 12-14 in San Luis Obispo. The coaches and players really need your support both at our Saturday afternoon match against SDSU and the evening festivities.

“There is strength in numbers, and if we all work together, we can be unstoppable.”

Best Regards,

Nick Massman
Head Coach
Cal Poly SLO RFC

“If you want something you’ve never had, you have to do something you’ve never done.

The Alumni played a big role in financially helping the Mustang’s with their trip to Las Vegas.

Doug Smith, Eric Owiesny, Mike Gossett, and all CPRFC Alumni,

I know I speak for all of the current players in sincerely saying Thank You for your financial support with our trip to Las Vegas and participation in the LVI tournament. It was a great opportunity to play a hard fought league match against U of A, pick up three other matches against quality opponents, and most of all watch international rugby played at the highest level. Being a part of this tradition rich team involves taking on increased financial obligations for all players, and the aid of the Alumni is greatly appreciated in helping alleviate some of this financial hardship.

Thank you again and I know the team is looking forward to having a strong end to the season hopefully continuing into the playoffs. See you all soon at Alumni Weekend.

Sincerely,
Eric Watson
CPRFC Treasurer