Vancouver – The UBC Thunderbirds (13-3) men's rugby team will have to erase a 15-point deficit if they have any hopes of claiming a seventh straight World Cup title against the visiting California Golden Bears (9-0) when the two squads meet this Sunday, March 1 for a 1:00 p.m. kickoff at the Gerald McGavin UBC Rugby Centre.
 
The teams annual two-game total point World Cup series wraps up this weekend with the second meeting in the span of eight days after the Golden Bears earned a 36-21-win in last Saturday's cross-border opener at Witter Rugby Field in Berkley, California.


 
Heading into the first leg, the T-Birds, winners of the previous six World Cup battles had won five straight league games but the visitors found themselves down early as the bears dictated play. The hosts took a 24-point, 31-7 lead four minutes into the second half. From there, the Thunderbirds scored two unanswered tries to pull within 10 points. However, with 16 minutes to play, Cal was able to contain UBC's comeback attempt and senior Sebastian Bader scored his second try of the season with four minutes to play to seal the Bears' victory. The win was Cal's third straight on their home turf against UBC. Last season, the Bears lost 28-24 at UBC and they last defeated the T-Birds on the road March 22, 2015.

"Playing at Cal is markedly different than playing at home," said T-Birds head coach Curry Hitchborn when asked to dissect last weekends road loss. "We tend to get on the wrong side of many things down there and we reacted poorly to the environment. The game was a struggle with no discernable flow or consistency, we played a man down for most of the match and you can't expect to win games against teams short handed. We did an incredible job rebounding in the game and during this week of preparation so the expectation is to see that carry through for a dominant 80 minutes come Sunday up here where we tend to play with more confidence and resolve due to the environment."

Just as the Golden Bears did last weekend, the 'Birds will have to come through with a great effort on home soil and a convincing victory of at least 16 points to secure the outright win and a chance to hoist a seventh straight World Cup title.



"We are going to make a point of sticking to our game plan and physicality," added Hitchborn regarding what he expects from his squad in Sunday's rematch. "We hit harder, we run harder and we are tougher. Ideally we stay on the right side of the officials and stick it to them for a full 80 minutes. The guys are keen to ballance a few things out." 

Last year's series was a back and forth battle right to the very end, as the T-Birds dropped the opening game 24-22 in California before heading back up north trailing by two points on aggregate for the rematch one week later at UBC. The hosts would not disappoint in front of a boisterous jam-packed crowd under sunny skies at the Gerald McGavin Rugby Centre, the 'Birds gutted out a 28-24 victory, erasing the aggregate deficit while gaining a slim two-point margin to retain World Cup bragging rights.