No. 1 Cal Squeezes Past No. 2 Saint Mary's in Riveting Rugby Match

Bears improve to 12-0 by getting past their Bay Area rival in college rugby's greatest rivalry

No. 1-ranked Cal came back from a five-point halftime deficit to beat No. 2-ranked Saint Mary's 31-24 in a riveting college rugby match at Cal on Saturday afternoon.

The match came down to the closing seconds as the Gaels regained possession with one second left, needing a try and conversion to tie the match.  But the Bears thwarted Saint Mary's final possession to hang on for the win.

Cal led 26-24 with about 10 minutes left when Saint Mary's was within a few yards of scoring the go-ahead try.  But the Gaels were stopped just short of the goal-lin and the Bears responded by going the length of the field and eventually scoring on a try by Emilio Shea that made it 31-24 with about six minutes left.

Nate Salter's conversion was missed, however, allowing the Gaels a chance to tie. That's when the Bears held strong to complete the victory.

Last year Saint Mary's defeated Cal 32-14 in what is considered the greatest rivalry in college rugby, so there was so pay-back involved. But with the postseason up next, Cal knows it needs to improve.

"We act like we lost this game," said Cal's Jason Severance, who scored a try in the game. "We have a lot ot improve on because we are way better than this, and I think we'll be able to prove it in the following games."

Both teams presumably will advance to the postseason playoffs, which start next month and involve six teams in the West and six teams in the East.

By winning Saturday's game Cal is virtually assured of a first-round bye in the postseason, although the Gaels are likely to receive a bye as well.

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Follow Jake Curtis of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53

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