The men's varsity rugby team departed for sunny California on Thursday morning ahead of their first leg of the 'World Cup' against the University of California-Berkeley Golden Bears.
The 'World Cup' is an annual two-match tradition between Cal and UBC that began in 1921 with a trophy from the Vancouver World newspaper awarded to the team that emerges tops in total points.
The 2013 'World Cup' was awarded to Cal on March 24
th after a 66-24 aggregate win. It was the seventh straight Cup for the Golden Bears who won both the home and away fixture.
In their favour, the Thunderbirds appear to be a much stronger unit this season and are yet to lose a game. They sit firmly atop of the Okanagan Spring Brewery Division 1 with a perfect 10-0 record. They have also beaten Victoria home and away to recapture the Wightman Boot, a feat not achieved for 17 years; and upon entering the Las Vegas Collegiate 7s tournament went undefeated against North America's best clinching the Cup with a narrow win over that Victoria team again in the final.
UBC are still without fly-half James Thompson (ACL) but welcome back
Brock Staller (broken finger) and
Sean Ferguson who missed the win against Victoria in January. Ferguson in particular will give the team a boost as he returns from international duty with the Canadian Sevens team, who produced a best ever third-place finish on the Sevens circuit in Las Vegas.
The Golden Bears are similarly unbeaten this season. They have played four 40-minute games hosted in a tournament by UCLA as well as two regular games against California Maritime and Oregon State. Wins in all six games have come against some pretty weak opposition and Cal's winning margin was 134-0 in their home opener against OSU.
UBC will undoubtedly be their toughest test so far this season and in a year that has gone flawlessly for the Thunderbirds, they have their best chance in years of uprooting the 'World Cup' from Cal's grasp.
The two teams face off against each other at 1:00pm on Saturday at Witter Field.
The return home leg is scheduled to be played at the Wolfson Fields on Sunday March 23
rd.
