Individual Game Recaps Aggies Play Cal Tough 3/15/2008 Saturday March 15, 2008 UC Davis 10 UC Berkeley 38 Davis Plays Golden Bears Tough It is no secret in college rugby that the UC Berkeley Golden Bears are unquestionably the number one team in the country. The Bears win the national championship nearly every year and are heavy favorites to do so again this season. That said, the UC Davis Aggies can be proud of the way they played on Saturday in holding the Bears top 15 players to a score of 38. The Aggie backline, which has been exciting but inconsistent throughout the year, came to play on Saturday. First playing tough defense when Cal gained possession deep in Aggie territory, then breaking through Cal’s line when center Jake Mayers had a nice run before dishing the ball to fullback Danny Nolan. Unfortunately possession was lost, but the field position was reversed and Davis had sent a message that they were not intimidated. Davis had the first chance for points in the game but fly-half Julien Howsepian’s penalty kick hit the left upright and bounced back. The Aggies should be pleased with their defensive effort, as they harassed a normally dominant Cal side into knock-ons and other turnovers. Yet eventually, the size of the Cal pack and the speed and power of their backs, particularly their fullback, grinded down the smaller Aggies. A few tries were given up which the Aggies should not be ashamed of as they were the result of good play by Cal. The only disappointing aspect of the day for Davis was a brief stretch when they seemed to become frusturated and allowed Cal to score two easy tries, both on kickoff returns in which Cal took a misplaced kick, spun it wide, and the Davis defense was out of position. On a more positive note, Davis scored for the first time in 5 years against Cal and it was on a tremendous backline play. Center Tom Warner passed the ball in traffic to wing Tyler Harrisson, who beat the defensive line before another pass to Nolan, who beat the last defender and ran in for the try from 30 meters out. UC Davis (1-15) Colin Clark, Dan Hudes, Angus Brown, Levi Ryan, Reid Robinson, Jonny Volan, Sam Shackleford, Mark Miller, John Parshall, Julien Howsepian, Tyler Harrisson, Tom Warner, Jake Mayers, Ryan Gamba, Danny Nolan TRIES: Nolan CONVERSIONS: Howsepian PENALTIES: Howsepian UC Davis Men's Rugby Club 232 Activities and Recreation Center University of California, Davis 95616 Copyright 2006-2007, Julien Howsepian