West coast colleges are swinging into action with special training programs, guest coaches, and rigorous non-league matches.
In the San Francisco Bay Area, 2005 quarterfinalists UC Santa Barbara are visiting Stanford this week in order to work with Alan Muir, scrum coach for New Zealand’s Under 21 and Under 19 teams. Further south in Tempe, Arizona State are hosting Army, another year-ago quarterfinalist, as part of a camp led by former Australian international forwards Fletcher Dyson and Nick Stiles.
As national competition intensifies, universities are finding it valuable to spend their preseasons seeking out technical expertise and tougher games. Lackluster league schedules may make for an easy run to USA Rugby’s round of 16, but don’t help much once you get there.
UCSB, the defending Southern California champs, open this Saturday against 2005 Pacific Coast qualifier St. Mary’s, which plays Oregon State on Sunday. The Beavers were unbeaten this fall. Next Saturday the Gauchos host 2005 national finalists Utah, a day after the Utes meet up-and-coming UCLA.
Arizona, Stanford, and Washington State are among those who will play their openers at the inaugural Pac 10 tournament, scheduled for Los Angeles on January 21-22. As the championship comprises teams from three different unions – Southern California, Northern California, and the Pacific Northwest – the competition doesn’t count in the league standings.
2005 champions California have assembled on campus a week before school resumes, for a heavy load of training and classroom work. Unlike many of their rivals, the Bears don’t play during the fall, focusing instead on a thrice-weekly strength and conditioning program. The incoming class looks to be strong.
Archrival Stanford too is holding a camp this weekend.
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