Cal Takes 7s Experience Into Fall Campaign

BERKELEY - With returning experience looking to offset the loss of historic leadership, the Golden Bears are set to embark on their 2014 fall 7s season with three tournaments in the code of the sport that will be contested at the next Summer Olympic Games.

California gets started Saturday, October 11, at the West Coast Sevens hosted by Cal Poly, followed by the Battle in the Bay hosted by Saint Mary’s on Treasure Island Oct. 25-26. The fall campaign is capped by the PAC Sevens Championship November 8-9, hosted by the Bears on Witter Rugby Field.

“As we prepare to open our competition account, the aspect I most look forward to seeing is the maturity and development of our players,” said head coach Jack Clark. “A year is a long time in the lifespan of a collegiate athlete. The individual improvement of some players can be astonishing.” (For more from Clark on a range of issues, click here for a “Coach for Three Q&A” to learn more from the Hall of Fame head coach.)

The back-to-back Collegiate Rugby Championship 7s national champions get underway with the new season Saturday at the West Coast Sevens with their first-ever 7s match against San Jose State, an 11:20 a.m. kickoff at the Cal Poly Sports Complex. The 12-team tournament continues for the Rugby Bears at 12:40 p.m. against Arizona, followed by a reseeding for championship rounds culminating with the cup final at 3:40 p.m.

Faced with the limitations of a 15-player squad mandated by the WC7s, coach Clark could tap well-known veterans as well as newcomers for opening day. Among the veterans, the list of potential participants for Saturday includes six of the top-10 most-experienced 7s players in the Bears’ young 7s history: seniors Andrew Battaglia (51 appearances, No. 1) and Jake Anderson (47, No. 2), junior Russell Webb (35, No. 5) and seniors Paul Bosco (30, T-6th), Nicklas Boyer (30, T-6th) and Eakalafi Okusi (26, T-8th).

Other veterans whose experience includes trips to the CRC 7s are seniors Jesse Milne (15 appearances) and Alec Gletzer (12), and junior Anthony Salaber (22). Among those back at full go after missing CRC selection with injury is senior Lucas Dunne, a speedy scrumhalf and wing with 12 career appearances.

Of note among the potential newcomers to Cal’s 7s squad is the 6-6 junior James Kondrat, a lock in traditional 15s who earned honorable mention All-America honors last year. Kondrat’s aerial skills could add an interesting dimension on the 7s pitch for the Bears.

Other 7s squad members vying for selection include senior Matthew Chipman (6 career 7s appearances); juniors Christian Hess (3), Miles Honens (2), Karl Thornton (1) and Cameron Todd (11); sophomores Connor Sweet (2) and Billy Maggs (0); and freshman Hugo D’Auriol, one of the Bears’ 16 new players for 2014-15.

While much of the team’s potential makeup looks familiar, it’s also a familiar refrain to recount players no longer available to don the Blue and Gold after completing their collegiate rugby careers.

Virtually every year the team loses great leaders, but the 2014-15 team is on even less-familiar ground compared to every other team in the team’s 133-year history in the sense that the graduated Seamus Kelly held Cal’s captaincy for an unprecedented three years.

The good news is that the Rugby Bears were in the same position one year ago, when Kelly took the first semester off following a marathon 2012-13 that ended with his summer campaign on the U.S. National Team. Anderson assumed the captain’s role during Kelly’s absence and led Cal to its second consecutive PAC conference 7s title in the autumn. The team notched a 14-2 record before the Bears were rejoined by Kelly for the spring 15s season and went on in May and June to complete a perfect 6-0 run at the 2014 CRC for the team’s second straight national 7s title. Anderson, a 2013 All-American and '14 honorable mention, is once again slated to handle the captain’s duties this fall.

Also gone from the Bears following last spring’s graduation is center Brad Harrington, a CRC 7s championship starter and former 7s All-American whose 14 career 7s tries are No. 8 all-time in the program. Harrington’s second-half try in the final helped the Bears win their second straight CRC in June on NBC.

Gone too after 2013-14 is fellow All-American Josh Tucker, a top-10 all-time try scorer (19 tries, No. 5) and appearance maker in Cal 7s (26, T-10th) who was a very good defender in addition to his finishing skills; and senior Carl Hendrickson, who is conducting a semester study off-campus and will not be available to build on his 21 appearances and 7 tries.

Still on the Bears but also unavailable for selection in the season opener are juniors Harry Adolphus (8 tries and 20 conversions in 13 appearances) and Patrick Barrientes (8 tries, 21 appearances), and sophomore Jamie Howells (2 appearances). All three hope to return to full go later in the autumn.

Following the West Coast Sevens, the Bears will return to Treasure Island for the Battle in the Bay, a two-day tournament on Oct. 25-26 that offers Clark a little more latitude with a 20-man roster limit.

After the Battle in the Bay, Cal will turn its attention to the main objective of the 7s season, which is the PAC Sevens Tournament on the Bears’ home pitch on Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 8-9. The Blue and Gold will be aiming for their third straight conference 7s crown with their first chance to perform for the Cal faithful on Witter Rugby Field. To succeed, the Bears will have to navigate a bracket that includes some of the best 7s teams in collegiate rugby.

“In the fall we divide the team by 7s and 15s, building and executing training plans which are specific to both groups,” coach Clark said. “Appreciating how demanding our main competitive season is in the spring, we attempt to manage the volume on the student-athletes in the fall. I think we have found the right balance in the fall with only three competitions, and a field-training and strength-and-conditioning schedule of Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. In the blink of an eye it will be January double days followed by a five-month everyday slog. So for now, reduced volume is a necessity.”

Following the end of the fall campaign and their semester exams, the Rugby Bears will transition in January to spring 15s, with traditional rivalries and PAC Rugby Conference action preceding the Penn Mutual Varsity Cup National Championships before the team finishes the year once again at the 2015 Penn Mutual Collegiate Rugby Championship 7s, where it will compete for the final time in 2014-15 in the 7s code that will be featured in Rio at the 2016 Summer Olympics.