BERKELEY – California hosts Saint Mary's College Saturday, March 25, at 5 p.m. on Witter Rugby Field, where the Golden Bears will celebrate Homecoming in a nationally renowned local rivalry broadcast live on Pac-12 Bay Area.
 
Gates open at 4 p.m. and admission is free for all Cal students, active military personnel and children under 10 when the Bears (14-2, 5-0 PAC) face Saint Mary's (8-1, 3-0 Calif.) on Witter Rugby Field, where a reserve-grade contest will follow the First XV. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for seniors and youth 10-19, and $3 for groups of 10 or more, with advance online purchases available at calbea.rs/RugbySpring2017.
 
Viewers can access the match on TV on the Pac-12 Network's Bay Area channel and online with cable-carrier credentials at pac-12.com and the Pac-12 Now app.
 
The Rugby Bears welcome Saint Mary's having completed a sweep of PAC Rugby Conference play for Cal's fifth straight conference title in 15s, allotting minutes across the roster in the process both by design and out of necessity.
 
Saint Mary's will arrive in Strawberry Canyon amid an impressive spring campaign. The Gaels got a victory over Brigham Young at home on February 18, which was followed by a loss to the Cougars in their Provo rematch on March 11. SMC is averaging 67.0 points scored and 9.5 points allowed per game, compared to Cal averages of 57.6 ppg on offense and 10.4 ppg allowed. Common opponents in 2017 include Arizona State, Utah and Santa Clara, a trio of matches that both Cal and SMC swept. The Bears featured 31 different starters in those matches and have since lost two key players, No. 8 Thomas Robles and fullback Troy Lockyear, for the season to injuries.
 
The last meeting between Cal and Saint Mary's was a 27-14 win for the Bears on March 6, 2016, in Moraga, where the Blue and Gold outscored the Gaels, five tries to two. It was Cal's second straight victory over SMC, taking the all-time series to 24-3 in Cal's favor since 1990.
 
The Bears' lineup has turned over significantly since that last meeting, while Saint Mary's returns to this rivalry with five of their six players who received All-America honors at the end of last year. Cal, by comparison, expects to start six or seven freshmen and sophomores against the Gaels.
 
Cal's maturing process will continue in the front row, where the Bears have started one or more freshman and sophomore in 14 of their 16 matches this spring. Freshman Sid Holland could be the choice to start at hooker, where he may bind onto props Kevin Sullivan and Henry Baylor. Selections for the second row, which have ranged across the class years this spring, appear to be coming down to senior Connor Sweet and sophomore Robert Paylor. The back row could be a key area in Saturday's matchup, where Cal is projected to start freshman Thomas Spradling and sophomore Nic Mirashem at flankers, and senior Drew Gaffney at No. 8. They will go up against a much more experienced unit of counterparts in the Gaels' Vilami Helu, an All-American at No. 8, and flankers Alec Barton and Kevin O'Connor, who were second-team and honorable mention AAs, respectively, in 2016.
 
The Bears will be tasked to attack and defend against a talented Saint Mary's backline, where SMC's veteran fifth-year senior scrumhalf Holden Yungert is likely to be matched up against a freshman or sophomore in Cal's Keanu Andrade or Fawzi Kawash. Cal has a strength in its midfield trio of Russell Webb at flyhalf, Anthony Salaber at inside center and Patrick Barrientes, who returns from injury for his first start since mid-February at outside center. The deep three for the Blue and Gold could include freshman Sam Cusano and William Fuller on the wings, paired Jake Goena at fullback. Saint Mary's brings additional threats of its own to the backline in players like center Aaron Mathews and Dylan Audsley at fullback.
 
Following this finale to the regular season, Cal's national postseason gets underway in the Penn Mutual Varsity Cup Rugby Championship quarterfinals on April 15, when Cal follows its first-round bye with a visit to either Dartmouth or Clemson in the single-elimination tournament. If Cal advances, the Bears will host a national semifinal on Saturday, April 22, on Witter Rugby Field. The Varsity Cup national championship final is set for May 6 at a time and location to be announced, followed June 3-4 by the Penn Mutual Collegiate Rugby Championship 7s in Philadelphia.