Sunday may have been a wet and snow-filled day, but the clouds cleared just long enough for the second World Cup encounter between the Thunderbirds and the University of California Berkeley (UCB) Golden Bears. The ’Birds won the first game played in Berkeley two weeks ago by a score of 28-17.
UBC won this game 50-6.
The World Cup series is a traditional annual tournament played between the Thunderbirds and the Golden Bears, with other West Coast universities occasionally taking part as well.
The Golden Bears came into Thunderbird Stadium wanting revenge. They were met with the wall that was the Thunderbirds' defence. UCB was kept to just six points over the entire game — one of their worst performances of their season that included both Pacific 12 and NCAA play.
Their frustrations added into the already high emotions on the playing field. This led to a brawl early in the game that left players on both teams bloodied. The rest of the game saw many occasions in which officials had to physically step in and separate players on both teams.
The ’Birds' offence was on fire for the entirety of the game. Second-year fullback Adam McQueen made three conversions in the game, and third-year wing Theo Sauder was electrifying, scoring three tries and making one successful conversion.
Sean Duke, Elias Ergas and Andrew Coe also added to the T-Birds' final tally. It was the third time this year that UBC had scored 50 points in a single game. This was also the 10th game in a row that the ’Birds had won, as they have remained undefeated since October 2016.
The ’Birds will have two weeks to rest before they return to BC Rugby Premier League play against the Castaway Wanderers RFC in Victoria.
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