(Michael Pimentel-Cal Media Relations photo)
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California had a 10-5 halftime lead but was outscored 22-12 in the second half and failed to find the try zone in a wild final two minutes inside the UBC 10-meter line.
The five-point loss still left the Bears winners of this year's `World Cup' on the strength of the 18-point advantage they brought into the second match of the home-and-home series, keeping the Cup in Berkeley for the second straight season and nine of the past 12 years.
"The series means a lot to us and we're thankful to be able to take the Cup back to Berkeley," said Cal captain Rikus Pretorius. "But I don't think we would be the team that we are if we didn't want to win every game."
A partisan UBC crowd enjoyed a see-saw battle with four lead changes before the Thunderbirds began their second half push to come away with the victory. UBC flyhalf Harry Jones dotted down with five minutes to play for the winning margin.
"We're gutted," Pretorius said. "There's no lack of effort, it's just the way it turns out when two good teams meet - the outcome is always uncertain." The senior flanker scored a try and tackled T-Birds all over the field, but his and his teammates' efforts could not keep UBC at bay.
"What we really worked out was trying to simplify things in our lineout, because if you take a look at the last Cal game, we're not winning even 50 percent of our own lineouts," said UBC head coach Spence McTavish.
Rather than kick to touch and put extra pressure on their lineout, the Birds often elected to keep it in bounds when they put the ball on their feet, resulting in territorial kicks that had the Bears backpedaling and grubber kicks that had both teams dashing madly to try and secure possession.
Both teams had several line breaks deep into opposition territory that did not end in tries, including Ryan Taylor's effort late in the first half that took him all the way to the line before he was held up in goal. A missed link here and a knock-on there stymied the Bears on many occasions.
Playing conditions downgraded from overcast at kickoff to cold sprinkles over the final few minutes, ended with distant thunder as the Bears boarded their bus with their first loss of the season. Their last defeat was at the hands of 2006 Rugby Super League champions OMBAC in March 2007.
"Wonderful match, tons of commitment,” said Cal head coach Jack Clark. “Congratulations to UBC for their victory. I'm pleased our boys were able to bring the Cup home."
Cal's calendar is now clear to focus on the national collegiate postseason in Albuquerque, NM, April 18-19. The Bears' Round of 16 opponent is the South #2 and 16th overall national seed, which will be the loser of the Tennessee-Arkansas State match to be played Saturday.
Should the Bears advance, they would play in the quarterfinals against the winner of the #8/9 matchup, which pits the second Southern California seed against Army, the top team from the Northeast. The national semifinals and final then take place at Stanford May-2-3.