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After the Cal-St. Mary’s rugby match on Saturday, Cal head coach Jack Clark said he wasn’t happy with his team’s performance, and “at least now we know what it is we have to work on.” 

All-American Shaun Paga said, “we were sloppy today, but we have a lot of potential.” 

To put the comments into perspective of the sky-high expectations for the Bears this season, consider that they beat the Gaels 78-14 in their first match of the year. 

The Bears, winners of 10 straight national championships, thoroughly dominated the action on Witter Field for almost the entire game, save a 10-minute stretch during which St. Mary’s scored both of their tries on sudden breakaways. Although the Gaels were a game bunch, they were simply outmatched by the nation’s best collegiate team. 

Cal (1-0) scored 12 tries on the day, including two each by backs Michael Bonetto, David Guest and Cameron Bunce. They were ferocious on defense, turning the Gaels (0-1) back twice in the second half from less than two yards out. Even when Paga was sin-binned for 10 minutes for putting his boots to a St. Mary’s player, the Bears went forward and scored a try with only 14 players. 

“This is one of the best Cal team’s I’ve ever seen,” said St. Mary’s head coach Mike O’Dea. He should know; O’Dea was a member of the first four teams in the current national title streak. 

“It’s exciting to come back and be a part of the lore of Strawberry Canyon, but it’s tough when you’re playing against the best in the nation,” he said. “Their defense was just phenomenal today.” 

Both Clark and Paga disagreed, as they made identical statements after the game. 

“We got off to a sloppy start on defense,” each one said. 

Both also complimented the Gaels for their enthusiasm. The St. Mary’s players were perfectly willing to trade hits with the Bears, a rarity for a team facing a clearly superior foe. But they were clearly tiring near the end of the match, allowing three easy tries in the final 13 minutes, including an easy interception that Bunce turned into a 50-yard try at the final whistle. 

Cal took just four minutes to score their first try of the match and season, with flanker Mark Vickers punching the ball into the right corner of the end zone from a Cal scrum.  

The Bears were leading 15-0 before St. Mary’s got on the board, with center Ryan Thompson breaking a spectacular 40-yard run after busting through Cal’s backline in the 19th minute. Gael scrumhalf A.J. Anton-Giovanni scored with a short dive over the goal line 10 minutes later, but the Gaels couldn’t muster much more offense in the game, and were turned back twice when they got near another score. 

The Bears travel to Chico State this Saturday.