In the 1980 Winter Olympics, a team of 20 Americans shocked the world by beating the heavily favored Soviets for the gold medal in hockey. Because the victory is considered one of the greatest upset stories in history, the U rugby team has been taking notes all week.
Utah is set to play Cal, the Soviets of college rugby, Saturday at 1 p.m. The No. 1 Golden Bears are the most dominant club college rugby has ever seen, as they have claimed 23 of the 28 national championships since 1980.
“Cal is by far the best team in the country, by leaps and bounds,” U captain Jake Anderson said. “No one beats them. They’re averaging 60 points a game, they’re big and they’re very disciplined.”
The Golden Bears are averaging 59 points per game while going 13-0 this season, but who’s counting? Half of the time, their opponents don’t score at all.
Cal’s roster reads like an NFL roster of size and speed. Come Saturday, the team will be rolling out its trio of locks — 6-foot-7 Julian Snellgrove, 6-foot-9 Adam Casias and 6-foot-5 Rob Sullivan.
“We’ll just have to hit ’em at the knees,” Anderson said.
Bears’ coach Jack Clark is a legend in rugby circles, having coached for almost 25 years and amassing a winning record of 416-65 (.856).
“Jack Clark takes eighth-graders from around the country and trains them in camps until they’re ready to play at Cal,” Anderson said. “They’re so good that they find ways to break you and make you give up.”
The sixth-ranked Utes aren’t exactly Davids measuring up against Goliath, though.
“I wouldn’t say we’re underdogs,” Anderson said. “We’ve never pulled that card. It’s exciting for us to go against them this early in the season. We’re looking at it as, ‘If we win, great. If we lose, we still learned a lot playing them.’ They’re the ones with everything to lose.”
One card the Utes might want to play is the injuries excuse. The Utes will be without key players Andrew Swindle, Matt Wunderli, Cameron Bird and Chase Jardine. On the bright side, the Utes will be returning starters Cam Kiser and Nate Herrscher.
Anderson said that although their depleted roster is at a disadvantage, the Utes like their chances.
“It’s just like in ‘Miracle,’ no one thought those guys stood a chance against the Russians,” Anderson said. “Even if they lose 49 out of 50 times, they still beat them once.”