The Cal Poly Mustangs have beaten UC Davis 45-12 in very warm conditions in San Luis Obispo yesterday.
Poly gave away numerous penalties in and around the breakdown in the opening quarter of the match, which provided the Aggies with plenty of possession in the right part of the field to secure early points. A very confident UC Davis side took their opportunities scoring two tries to Poly’s one before the home team came together to take the lead at the half time break.
After the break and a stern talking to by Coach Burnett the Mustangs turn the game around and began to turn pressure into points. Hooker turned flanker Joe Saldana was Johnny on the spot scoring two tries and almost a third. The Poly backs found plenty of space out wide which laid a great platform for the forwards to power over the line. Tries to flanker Matt Ryan, prop Ben Crosby and second rowers Eric Parsons and Eddie Verea took the points difference out of the Aggies reach.
“We came out a little sluggish in the first half but to the boys credit, we kept our composure in the second half, played with a bit of fire and got back to the Poly Rugby we knew we could play.” said fullback Landis Nasser.
Next week Cal Poly head to Los Angeles to take on an inform UCLA who had an upset win against Central Washington 26-23 on the road. Coach Burnett is not underplaying the UCLA match in the slightest. “Next week against UCLA will be massive. They beat us in the round of 16 at the Las Vegas 7s and in the preseason friendly. We know we have to be better from the start. We’ve got to play a full 80 minutes, nothing else will do.” Burnett said.
A win against UCLA will see the Mustangs in playoff contention against Central Washington in SLO the week after.