VANCOUVER – The 'Birds battled hard inside of Thunderbird Stadium on a very rainy Saturday afternoon, but the reigning American national champions proved too much to handle as the California Golden Bears claimed the World Cup trophy for the first time since 2013 with a 38-7 victory.
Forced to play undermanned due to a series of injuries and other absences, a number of young Thunderbirds got the chance to play in this marquee matchup.
"The younger lads we parachuted in, our JV players, they really stood up and played to the game plan that we put in place," said UBC head coach
Didier Banse. "I'm really proud of that effort and there were a lot of moments where we put the pressure on, we just didn't get the rewards.
"We knew we were coming up the national D1A champs from last year, so it was going to be a test for us. Again, I'm proud of our younger guys stepping up, representing and wearing the jersey well. Because that was a tough Cal team."
The Golden Bears were on the front foot in the opening minutes, and eventually forced in a try through Byron Finley after a series of goal line stands by the resilient T-Birds' defence.
The visitors' lead doubled in the 12th, following a long kick forward down the sideline that caused problems for the T-Birds who were pinned back down right near the try zone. After California forced a turnover, Peter Symington got the ball in some space and juked out a defender to glide in for the score
The Thunderbirds get their first big offensive foray forwards midway through the opening half, when
Max McGavern ran onto a ball kicked down the sideline and smartly kicked it even further himself before picking it up, allowing him to grab it within 10 yards of the Golden Bears' goal line.
Unfortunately for the home team, Cal thwarted their attempts to score, eventually stealing the ball off a UBC scrum and booting it away from danger.
The visitors then scored their third try late in the first half, despite the Thunderbirds arguably having a bit better of the play in the preceding 15 minutes or so. The 'Birds were caught sleeping on a quick restart, however, and Solomon Williams took advantage to sneak his way through the defence and score.
Rand Santos and Finley tacked on two more scores for the Golden Bears in the second half, before the 'Birds were able to give the home fans something to cheer about in the late stages of the match.
It was
Aidan Sutherland who got the momentum going, as he powered his way down the line and through a couple of attempted tackles. That helped set up a ruck right near the try zone, from which
Caleb Seumanutafa tossed the ball to
Alastair Marshall who dove in for the score.
While the end result wasn't what the Thunderbirds were hoping for, being able to resume the historic rivalry between UBC and California – now a full century old – made this weekend one to remember for the program.
"It's huge," remarked Banse on the two sides facing off in Vancouver for the first time in six years. "This is the icing on the cake – we went down last year, we got this series back going again, and this is 100 years of history, of tradition. I'm very happy that we got Cal back to play in this stadium, and now we're paving the way for the next group of guys to come through and carry this legacy forward."
When it comes to this season, the blue and gold will be back in action on the road against Meraloma RC in Premier League play on Saturday, February 28. They'll next play at home on March 14 against Pacific Pride.
SCORING SUMMARY
1 2 F
UBC 0 7 0
CAL 24 14 38
4' – CAL try #5 Byron Finley (#12 Filip Edstrom convert) 7-0 CAL
12' – CAL try #13 Peter Symington (#12 Filip Edstrom convert) 14-0 CAL
34' – CAL try #9 Solomon Williams (#12 Filip Edstrom convert) 21-0 CAL
40' – CAL penalty kick #12 Filip Edstrom – 24-0 CAL
HALF
50' – CAL try #10 Rand Santos (#12 Filip Edstrom convert) 31-0 CAL
69' – CAL try #5 Byron Finley (#12 Filip Edstrom convert) 38-0 CAL
74' – UBC try #13
Alastair Marshall (#15
Benjamin Beauchamp convert) 38-7 CAL
