COLLEGE RUGBY NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

As a fan of college rugby I have found myself increasingly frustrated by the coverage of collegiate rugby in the media. Specifically, I believe too much of the media is repeating this story of California and BYU in the “National Championship” through Varsity Cup, which is deserving of either a) Clarification, and/or; b) Attention to the implications. 

For example: http://www.dailycal.org/2014/04/28/cal-rugby-knocks-cwu-advance-varsity-cup-finals/ 

The article says, categorically: “After Saturday’s confident win, the Bears will have to step up their performance to beat age-old rival Brigham Young University to take back the national championship title from the No. 1 team in the country.” 

When in fact, Cal wasn’t playing for the “National Championship,” nor was BYU the holder of the “National Champion” title, as Life University won the Division 1 title in 2013. 

The rugby media is replete with examples, as for example the Rugby Magazine coverage (5/1) lazily perpetuates the line: Cal Readies for Varsity Cup Final 

“Having fought their way through injuries and adversity this season to face BYU for the national title…. The Bears’ victory conditions for the championship final pose a huge challenge as they end their 15s season on collegiate rugby’s most dramatic stage, and Cal will strive to rise to the occasion…” 

In fact, Cal isn’t playing for the official “National Championship” or “National Title” any longer. A 12-team competition that doesn’t feature the nation’s top teams (according to Rugby Mag) is certainly not worthy of the breathless hyperbole, “college rugby’s most dramatic stage.” 

The operators of Varsity Cup have a genuine interest in making sure that the media believes the mythos of Varsity Cup equating “National Championship.” Inconvenient to that narrative, Rugby Magazine’s own national rankings show that there are other teams better than Cal and BYU. If the Varsity Cup teams hadn’t formed their own private “title,” the collegiate Sweet 16, based on Rugby Magazine’s own rankings would be something on the order of: 

1 Life – 1A 

2 St. Mary’s – 1A
3 BYU – Varsity Cup
4 Cal – Varsity Cup
5 UCLA – Varsity Cup
6 Navy – Varsity Cup
7 Arkansas State – 1A
8 Central Washington – Varsity Cup
9 Utah – Varsity Cup
10 Kutztown – 1A
11 Lindenwood – 1A
12 Central Florida – 1AA
13 Davenport – 1A
14 Arizona – 1AA
15 Arizona State – 1AA
16 Bowling Green – 1AA

(St Mary’s thrashing of the Bears would seem to support this case.)

As we all recognize, know and respect Cal has had a long, distinguished history as USA Rugby National Champions. But in recent years, teams like BYU, St Mary’s, Life and Arkansas State have closed the gap. And last year Coach Jack Clark took Cal and, working with an investor and a few other schools, formed their own privately-held, 12-team “National Championship” branded Varsity Cup.

Marty Snider and the NBC commentary crew gave a cringe-worthy affirmation of Cal’s stature in rugby, though repeatedly and erroneously tied Cal’s Varsity Cup appearance to a tally of “27 National Championships,” when if fact there is no correspondence between these titles.

If the rugby media wants to keep readers, you can’t treat fans like idiots. Particularly young readers in high school and college, who are particularly good at spotting BS. If fact, most rugby fans know what’s going on:

CAL’S USA RUGBY NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RECORD
YEAR; NATIONAL CHAMPION; RUNNER-UP:
1980 – California 15, Air Force 9
1981 – California 6, Harvard 3
1982 – California 15, Life College 14
1983 – California 13, Air Force 3
1984 – Harvard 12, Colorado 4
1985 – California 31, Maryland 6
1986 – California 6, Dartmouth 4
1987 – San Diego St. 10, Air Force 9
1988 – California 9, Dartmouth 3
1989 – Air Force 25, Penn State 7
1990 – Air Force 18, Army 12
1991 – California 20, Army 14
1992 – California 27, Army 17
1993 – California 36, Air Force 6
1994 – California 27, Navy 13
1995 – California 48, Air Force 16
1996 – California 47, Penn State 6
1997 – California 41, Penn State 15
1998 – California 34, Stanford 15
1999 – California 36, Penn State 5
2000 – California 62, Wyoming 16
2001 – California 86, Penn State 11
2002 – California 43, Utah 22
2003 – Air Force 45, Harvard 37
2004 – California 46, Cal Poly 24
2005 – California 44, Utah 7
2006 – California 29, BYU 26
2007 – California 37, BYU 7
2008 – California 59, BYU 7
Note: Until this point, most of these are blowouts for Cal, but then look here, the games start to get closer….
2009 – BYU 25, California 22
2010 – California 19, BYU 7
Then in 2010, Cal announces it is cutting Varsity Rugby from Athletics… and the pressure is on…. 2011 – California 21, BYU 14
Then, for the first time ever, consecutive years without Cal in the USA Rugby national title. 2012 – BYU 49, Arkansas State 42 And , “Varsity Cup” was formed…
2013 – Life Univ. 16, St. Mary’s (CA) 14
And so next week we will see…
 2014 – Life #1 vs. St Mary’s #2 …and no Cal.

(To say nothing of the USD, Central Florida, Bowling Green and Arizona in the Final Four of Div1-AA)

In fact, it is these teams, and not Cal and/or BYU, competing for the National Championships as recognized by USA Rugby, the sport’s USOC-recognized organizing body. The exclusive, private competition that the media keeps reporting as the “national championship” was set-up (it would appear in part) to limit Cal’s rising exposure to contenders, and so to perpetuate ‘The Cal Dynasty.’ It is worth noting that this is the same Jack Clark that initiated the “Collegiate Premier League” only to dump it, to start Varsity Cup, and so precipitating THREE championships in Division 1. Not only have has the rugby media NOT broadly reported Cal’s recklessness in jumping around between competitions: Several have become complicit in perpetuating these self-serving interests. Now, one of the very worst characteristic of US sports… “Everyone gets a trophy.”.. is now part of Cal’s rugby tradition. (And speaking of tradition: Cal was very keen to assert “tradition” when they blasted Boivert at Stanford for the forfeiture of their match against Cal. But on the matter of tradition, for a national championship that has been played for 34 years, too many in the rugby media have given Cal an absolute hall pass.) A couple year’s back, after first being a leading proponent of Premiere Division (1A), Clark gave a justification for Cal leaving CPD. This was before mention was made of the Varsity Cup. Let’s look at what was said: http://rugbymag.com/college-premier-league-/3008-jack-clark-explains-cals-decision.html

Issue: Cal didn’t want to play multiple weekends during the reading week, exams and graduation. One week was “acceptable” to Cal.
Fact: Cal’s 2014 graduation is May 17th. The Div 1A round of 8 was held April 28th, an eternity before finals. The Div-1A finals are May 11th. There is only one week of “interference.” http://registrar.berkeley.edu/CalendarDisp.aspx?terms=current

As a frame of reference for full varsity sports at Cal: The Bear’s varsity schedule shows Women’s golf, softball, crew, water polo, tennis and track & field, and; Men’s track, baseball, tennis, and crew will all be traveling/playing the week of May 3th – 11th. Is the rugby team so special that it can’t make the same commitments as other Cal sports?

Issue: The expense of travel wasn’t satisfied by the income from the events. In 2010 under the Collegiate Premiere scheme, Cal had to travel to Ellensburg, Colorado and Utah.
Fact: Cal has not diminished its travel expense commitment after CPD.

In fact,in 2014 it has added trips to Arizona/ASU to its schedule, travelled to Utah to play a Varsity Cup fixture (UU), and will fly back to SLC to play BYU. Dartmouth travelled to play at Cal this spring, and traditions being what they are (Cal believes in tradition, right?) will reciprocate for a match in New Hampshire. This is no more or less a travel commitment than before (and what Life, St Mary’s, UCLA, Arizona and Notre Dame etc. do with less resource.)

Issue: Cal needed to drop Premiere Division/D1-A requirements, and consider “building a Sevens component into our program.”
Fact: Cal was a finalist in the CRC 18 months before this statement, losing to Utah 31-26 at the wire in Columbus. Cal was a semifinalist 6 months afterwards. That would not exactly appear to be a club needing to completely reevaluate its competitive posture in XVs, to facilitate the rise of 7s.

Clearly, Varsity Cup doesn’t provide more relief (financial, logistical and academic) from the perils of Div 1A. And clearly everything has been done to assure Cal success in 7s in Philadelphia: This year’s CRC pools (established by the same people that own Varsity Cup.) give Cal a complete cakewalk Pool A. Cal’s opponents include: – Maryland: One CRC appearance, finishing in 10th; – Hometown Drexel, with no prior CRC appearances, and; – Temple, a Philly-area ticket seller, and last year’s #18 finisher. Meanwhile, 2013′s CRC 7′s Finalist Life University, an evident challenger to Cal’s national rugby brand, is pooled with 7′s powerhouse University of Arizona (4th, 5th, 2nd and 8th in the past four CRCs). While Dartmouth pools with Kutztown. Is it possible this a quid pro quo for Cal staying in Varsity Cup? While I think its great that there is such enthusiasm for Cal Rugby, and I respect Jacks’ competitiveness and success: I think some greater objectivity and candor with respect to Clark’s goals is worthy of the rugby media’s journalistic endeavors. It does not serve the rugby community to allow North Korea-worthy bending of language to perpetuate the myth of everlasting greatness in the empire. Given all the celebratory hardware that’s going to be passed-around in these final weeks, its an excellent time for the media covering the story of Cal to realize the facts of the story render something more like this:
Cal Competes for Varsity Cup Title Bears Opt for New Format, Over Official Collegiate National Championship
“After 34 years and remarkable success, the Cal Bears concluded the 2014 varsity rugby season without a drive for the USA Rugby national collegiate championship. Coach Jack Clark, favoring a deal with NBC Television that brings attention to a half-dozen elite college programs, instead squared-up against longtime rival BYU for the Varsity Cup title in Utah. The move to Varsity Cup marked one of a series of changes to the Cal program, which (once thought invincible) has struggled in recent years to maintain its presence in the national championship, last appearing in 2011, and suffered a series of recent, stinging defeats to local St Mary’s (55-31) and “World Cup” series opponent University of British Columbia (40-3).”

As unpopular as that is: That’s the story, and should be reported. I don’t have it out for Jack. People will do what they are incentivized to achieve. He’s an exceptional coach, and Cal is an admirable program. But college rugby fans understand what’s going on. And it smells. Badly.

Two questions persist: In areas of the rugby media, much effort is being made in the to prop-up rigged spectacle as competitive sport. If not actively propping it up, shouldn’t the rugby media at least be making it transparent? Isn’t it time for all coaches, interested in the development of the game, to organize behind a simple, credible set of national championships – with straight-faced designations of teams in Divisions I, II and III, based in the size of their institutions, or with respect to their higher competitive ambitions?

Written by Sam McPhee Boston, MA