California rugby will play its first home game of the 2026 season at Witter Rugby Field, hosting Cal Poly on Saturday at 1 p.m. PT. This matchup marks the beginning of four regular season home games for the Golden Bears.
The team recently completed a successful fall sevens campaign, remaining undefeated and securing three consecutive West Coast Collegiate 7s titles in Los Angeles, Palo Alto, and San Diego. The Bears began their XVs season with a decisive win against UC Santa Cruz on November 20, finishing with a score of 99-0. Twelve different players scored tries in that match, including sophomores Tom Archer, Max Paga, and Chris Biller, who each recorded two tries.
Cal Poly finished its fall XVs schedule with a record of three wins and two losses. The Mustangs were defeated by Arizona (22-46) and BYU (12-21), but won matches against Silicon Valley (45-10), Sacramento State (77-15), and Long Beach State (68-14). They arrive in Berkeley after winning their last two games.
The most recent meeting between California and Cal Poly took place on January 18 of last season, when the Bears secured a 57-14 victory on the road. In that contest, California scored nine tries and six conversions while limiting Cal Poly to two converted tries. Returning player Solomon Williams led the scoring with two tries; Rand Santos contributed one try and six conversions.
Their previous encounter in Berkeley was during the opening round of the 2024 D1A National Collegiate Championship Playoffs. California won that game 70-13 to advance to the quarterfinals.
This weekend’s lineup will see captain Rand Santos leading California alongside senior hooker Cade Crist and fullback Oliver Newall. Several new starters—Alex Vieira, Brice Muller, Ryan Wenstrom, Seamus Deely, Oliver Teague, and Nate Comiskey—will have key roles in what is expected to be an important match for them as well as several debutants from the reserve bench.
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