In its Sunday afternoon clash with the No. 1 Cal Golden Bears, the ASU rugby team fell 59–7 to the defending national champions.
The game marked the first home game for the Sun Devils (1–1) on the year as they continued their preseason schedule. However, they were unable to defend their home field when they were handed a loss in only their second game of the year.
After ASU missed a few opportunities to score early, the Cal (9–0) offense finally capitalized and scored the first try of the game with 24 minutes left in the first half, jumping out to a 5–0 lead.
Eight minutes later, they scored another try and converted the point after to increase the lead to 12–0. Cal scored another try a few minutes later, but missed the conversion to build a 17–0 lead with just over 12 minutes remaining in the half.
After a Cal penalty early in the second half, ASU elected to attempt a kick for points, but missed just short and turned the ball over.
Cal drove the field 10 minutes later, but was stopped just short of the try-zone in part to the tenacious defense from the Sun Devils’ backs. Moments later, Adam Sandstrom tapped the ball to himself following a Cal penalty and sprinted past 14 defenders before passing to Darcy Adams, who beat the final defender and completed the try.
Sandstrom scored the conversion to get ASU back in the game at 17–7.
With 20 minutes remaining in the game, Cal scored another try and conversion to build a 24–7 lead.
The game then went downhill for the Sun Devils.
The visiting Golden Bears showed why they are back-to-back national champions as they outlasted ASU en route to a 59–7 victory.
“I’d say honestly, our boys played really well up to the 50-minute mark,” Nathan Chapman said. “We’re playing the best team in the country, and we’re physically beating them, totally winning our ball, playing fantastic rugby and in the end, it comes down to fitness.”
Darcy Adams, who was injured prior to the game, was cheerful about his try that got ASU on the board early in the second half.
“I was playing injured, and I thought ‘I got to push through here, the team needs it,’” he said.
The Sun Devils head to Las Vegas next weekend as they play another top-notch rugby team, the Penn State Nittany Lions.
“We know we have the skill, the mentality, the intensity,” Sandstrom said. “Now we just got to get fit, we got to be able to play a whole 80-minute game.”
Reach the reporter at talopez3@asu.edu
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