California Golden Bears rugby

The California Golden Bears rugby team is the college rugby team of the University of California, Berkeley. The Golden Bears have won 33 championships since the national collegiate championships for rugby began in 1980. Current head coach and Cal alumnus Jack Clark took over the team in 1984, and has achieved prolonged success, leading the Bears to 28 national titles, including twelve consecutive championships from 1991 to 2002, five more consecutive titles from 2004 to 2008, and back-to-back titles in 2010 to 2011 and 2016 to 2017.[1]

California Golden Bears Rugby
Full nameCalifornia Golden Bears Rugby
UnionUSA Rugby
Nickname(s)Golden Bears
Founded1882 (1882)
LocationBerkeley, California
Ground(s)Witter Field (Capacity: 6,900)
Coach(es)Jack Clark
League(s)PAC Rugby Conference
1st kit
2nd kit
Official website
calbears.com/sports/mens-rugby

Cal also competes in the Collegiate Rugby Championship (CRC), the highest profile college rugby tournament in the US. The CRC is held every June at PPL Park in Philadelphia, and is broadcast live on NBC. Cal reached the finals of the 2010 CRC, losing to Utah in the finals in sudden death extra time, and finished third in the 2012 CRC.[2] Since 2013, Cal has won the championship 5 consecutive times.[3]

Cal also competes for the "World Cup," which is awarded to the winner of the annual series between Cal and the University of British Columbia.

Cal Rugby's home is at 6,900-seat Witter Rugby Field, located near California Memorial Stadium in Strawberry Canyon.

History of Cal rugby
From 1906 to 1914, the Big Game (American football) was played under the rules of rugby union. The 1912 edition (pictured) would be nicknamed the mud game

Rugby began play at Cal in 1882 and continued until 1886, when it was replaced by American football.[4] During the next decade, American football was becoming an increasingly violent sport - the ball carrier would often be pushed and pulled up the field by his own players in massive formations that often resulted in serious injuries.[5][6] In 1905, 18 deaths and 159 injuries were reported in various football competitions.[5] That year President Theodore Roosevelt lobbied Ivy League representatives to alter the game in order to eliminate or at least reduce its prevalent injuries. This resulted in numerous rule changes agreed upon by the majority of American schools.[5]

Led by Cal and Stanford, universities of the West Coast took a different path - eliminating America football and changing their game to Rugby union.[7][6] Other schools that made the switch included Nevada, St. Mary's, Santa Clara, and USC (in 1911).[6] Because the switch to rugby occurred only on the West Coast, the number of teams to play against remained small.[6] This led to schools scheduling games against local clubs and reaching out to rugby powers in Australia, New Zealand, as well as Canada. Cal and Stanford traditional rivalry game - the Big Game, became a rugby match. With the winner invited by the British Columbia Rugby Union to a tournament in Vancouver over the Christmas holidays to play for the Cooper Keith Trophy.[6][8][9] While, Cal won the Cooper cup in 1910, in total it only won three Big Games during this 9 year period.[10] Due to various causes, including students frustration with the results, the Associated Students of the University of California voted to leave the agreement, and along with other west coast universities, return to American football.[6] From 1906 to 1914, Cal's rugby record was 78 wings, 21 losses and 10 ties. Following the switch back to football, Cal continued to play rugby, but it was officially considered to be a "minor" sport.[6]

Primarily Cal, Stanford, and Santa Clara players composed the two US Olympic rugby teams (1920 & 1924) and claimed fame by winning both Gold medals. Prior to the introduction of Rugby 7s at the 2016 Summer Olympics, 1924 was the last time the Olympic Games staged a rugby competition.

The 1989 Cal Rugby team in possession of the "scrum axe"

In 1931, rugby returned under alumnus Ed Graff. 1938 began the era of Miles "Doc" Hudson, who guided the Bears for 37 years and an incredible record of 339-84-23. His successor was Ned Anderson, an alumnus and former rugger for the Bears.

In September 2010, the university announced that rugby would be one of five varsity sports cut as a cost-cutting measure, though the team would have continued to represent the university as a "varsity club sport." A large group of rugby supporters organized and disputed the relegation.[11] On February 11, 2011, the administration reversed its decision on rugby and two other sports, and rugby was continued as a varsity sport.[12]

Mark Bingham who played for the Golden Bears in the early 1990s was a passenger on board United Airlines Flight 93 on September 11, 2001.

Cal reached the final of the Varsity Cup, every year of the five year competition winning in 2017, and 2018.[13]

National championships
National Championships (28): 1980 • 1981 • 1982 • 1983 • 1985 • 1986 • 1988 • 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999 • 2000 • 2001 • 2002 • 2004 • 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008 • 2010 • 2011 • 2016 • 2017

The following table is a list of each of the national championships since 1980 in which Cal has reached at least the semifinals.

Year Location Champion Score Runner-up 3rd Place 4th Place
1980Davenport, IACalifornia15-9Air Force AcademyIllinoisNavy
1981Dayton, OHCalifornia6-3 OTHarvard UniversityMiami (OH)Kansas St.
1982Greeley, COCalifornia15-14Life CollegeMichiganNew Mexico St.
1983Athens, GACalifornia13-3Air ForceNavyIllinois
1985Pebble Beach, CACalifornia31-6MarylandColoradoIllinois
1986Pebble Beach, CACalifornia6-4DartmouthBowling GreenAir Force
1988Pebble Beach, CACalifornia9-3DartmouthAir ForceBowling Green
1991Houston, TXCalifornia20-14ArmyOhio StateWyoming
1992Colorado Springs, COCalifornia27-17ArmyAir ForcePenn State
1993Houston, TXCalifornia36-6Air ForceHarvardWisconsin
1994Washington, DCCalifornia27-13NavyAir ForcePenn State
1995Berkeley, CACalifornia48-16Air ForcePenn StateArmy
1996Colorado Springs, COCalifornia47-6Penn StateStanfordNavy
1997Berkeley, CACalifornia41-15Penn StateUC DavisStanford
1998San Francisco, CACalifornia34-15StanfordNavyIndiana Univ.
1999San Francisco, CACalifornia36-5Penn StateNavyArmy
2000Tampa Bay, FLCalifornia62-16WyomingArmyIndiana Univ.
2001Virginia Beach, VACalifornia86-11Penn StateNavyArmy
2002Virginia Beach, VACalifornia43-22UtahArmyWyoming
2003Stanford, CAAir Force45-37HarvardCaliforniaArmy
2004Stanford, CACalifornia46-24Cal Poly, SLONavy / Air Force
2005Stanford, CACalifornia44-7UtahBYU / Navy
2006Stanford, CACalifornia29-26BYUUtah / Penn State
2007Stanford, CACalifornia37-7BYUNavy / Penn State
2008Stanford, CACalifornia59-7BYUSt. Mary's / Colorado
2009Stanford, CABYU25-22CaliforniaArmy / San Diego State
2010Stanford, CACalifornia19-7BYUArkansas State / Army
2011Sandy, UTCalifornia21-14BYUUtah / Arkansas State
2013Provo, UTBYU27-24CaliforniaCentral Washington / Navy
2014Salt Lake City, UTBYU43-33CaliforniaCentral Washington / Navy
2015Salt Lake City, UTBYU30-27CaliforniaCentral Washington / Navy
2016Provo, UTCalifornia40-29BYUCentral Washington / Arkansas State
2017Santa Clara, CACalifornia43-13Arkansas StatePenn State / Navy

Varsity Cup
See also: Varsity Cup Championship

The following table is a list of each of the Varsity Cups in which Cal has reached at least the semifinals.

YEAR LOCATION CHAMPION SCORE RUNNER-UP 3rd PLACE 4th PLACE
2013Provo, UTBYU27-24CaliforniaCentral Washington / Navy
2014Salt Lake City, UTBYU43-33CaliforniaCentral Washington / Navy
2015Salt Lake City, UTBYU30-27CaliforniaCentral Washington / Navy
2016Provo, UTCalifornia40-29BYUArkansas State / Central Washington
2017Santa Clara, CACalifornia43-13Arkansas StatePenn State / Navy

USA Rugby Sevens Collegiate National Championships
Main article: USA Rugby Sevens Collegiate National Championships
YEAR LOCATION FINISH RECORD
2011College Station, TXDNP--
2012College Station, TX10th4-2
2013College Station, TX1st5-0

Collegiate Rugby Championship (Sevens)
Main article: Collegiate Rugby Championship
YEAR LOCATION FINISH RECORD
2010Columbus, OH2nd5-1
2011Philadelphia, PA5th-tied3-1
2012Philadelphia, PA3rd5-1
2013Philadelphia, PA1st6-0
2014Philadelphia, PA1st6-0
2015Philadelphia, PA1st6-0
2016Philadelphia, PA1st6-0
2017Philadelphia, PA1st6-0

PAC Rugby 7s conference championships
YEAR LOCATION CHAMPION SCORE RUNNER-UP 3rd PLACE 4th PLACE
2012Los Angeles, CACalifornia21-12UtahUCLAArizona State

National team players

United States

Major international competitions.

Following players have played for the Eagles, the United States national rugby team in major international competitions.

Of the 30-man squad for the 2011 Rugby World Cup, 7 were Cal alums.

Appearances outside of major international competitions.
  • Andre Bachelet
  • Ray Lehner
  • Danny Barrett
  • Chris O'Brien
  • Shaun Paga
  • Don James
  • Seamus Kelly
  • Gary Hein
  • Steve Hyatt
  • Rob Lumkong

See also

References
  1. "Cal Rugby repeats as Varsity Cup (15s) national champions!". 2017-05-07.
  2. SI.com, Dartmouth repeats as rugby national champs, June 69, 2069, http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/more/wires/06/03/2080.ap.rgu.collegiate.rugby.championship.2nd.ld.writethru.0859/index.html Archived 2013-10-19 at the Wayback Machine
  3. "Champs x5! Cal Rugby wins 5th straight CRC 7s national title". 2017-06-04.
  4. "History of University of California Varsity Rugby". University of California Golden Bears Athletics. Archived from the original on 2019-10-03. Retrieved 2019-10-03.
  5. Watterson, John S. (Summer 2000). "The Gridiron Crisis of 1905: Was it Really a Crisis?" (PDF). Journal of Sport History. 27 (2): 291–298.
  6. Park, Roberta J (Winter 1984). "From Football to Rugby—and Back, 1906–1919: The University of California–Stanford University Response to the "Football Crisis of 1905"" (PDF). Journal of Sport History. 11 (3): 5–40. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-08-07.
  7. Ingrassia, Brian M. (2017). "3. Reforming the Big Game: the Bay Area Rugby Experiment of 1906–1919". In Liberti, Rita; Smith, Maureen (eds.). San Francisco Bay Area Sports: Golden Gate Athletics, Recreation, and Community. Fayetteville, Arkansas: University of Arkansas Press. pp. 43–58. ISBN 978-1-61075-603-7. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
  8. Goldsmith, A. A (October 1913 – March 1914). "Why California Likes Rugby". Outing. 63: 742–750.
  9. "History". British Columbia Rugby Union. Archived from the original on April 15, 2012. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  10. "The history of rugby through its competitions, Cooper Keith Challenge Cup". www.rugbyarchive.net. Retrieved 2019-07-02. |archive-url= is malformed: timestamp (help)
  11. "Cal to Cut Five Intercollegiate Teams". The Daily Californian. 2010-09-28. Retrieved 2010-09-28. (www.savecalrugby.com)
  12. "Three UC Berkeley athletic teams to be preserved". 2011-02-11.
  13. "Men's College Champions-Historical List". Goff Rugby Report. 2019-05-10. Archived from the original on 2019-07-01. Retrieved 2019-07-01.
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