'24-25 Captain's Letter

Greetings everyone,

My name is George Zavala, and I am honored to serve as the captain of UC Davis Men's Rugby for the 2024-2025 season. I have had the pleasure of being part of this incredible club for nearly three seasons, and it has undoubtedly been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.

Our team takes pride in creating a welcoming environment while competing at the highest level in one of the most challenging collegiate rugby conferences in the United States. Reflecting on our 2023-2024 season, we achieved a lot, but I believe we still have more to strive for. My goal for this season is for us to compete fiercely in every game and make a strong push for the playoffs come spring.

With a young squad heading into the season, I anticipate some growing pains, but that’s exactly why we’ve scheduled preseason action, to prepare ourselves and build a solid foundation. Over the summer, I’ve witnessed our club grow not only in athletic ability but also in administrative strength, which makes me even more confident about our potential this season.

Together with our other leaders, I invite you, as a UC Davis Rugby supporter, to join us on this journey.  Any support you can offer, whether it be attending games, making a donation, or simply following along on social media, would be greatly appreciated.   

I am excited and optimistic about what’s to come, and I look forward to playing some great rugby alongside my teammates.

Best regards,

George Zavala

‘24-25 Captain George Zavala scans the field ahead.

UCD Rugby Supporters: Can you please support George and the team by visiting ucdavisrugby.com/donate and making a donation today? The club relies on generous contributions from people like you to make it happen every year. Thank you and Go Ags!

'23-24 Retrospective

As we all get ready for a new season of Aggie Rugby, let’s take a quick minute to look back on how last year’s team finished up as they waged battle in arguably the toughest collegiate rugby conference in the United States.

After starting the ‘23-24 California Conference season with a nice home win over Sac State (36-12), Davis suffered defeat to eventual D1A National Champions St. Mary’s College at home.  The boys bounced back though with solid wins over UC Santa Cruz (50-14) at home and San Diego State (42-31) on the road. Unfortunately, that was followed up with 3 straight losses to UCSB, Cal Poly and Long Beach State.  This led to a season finale against Santa Clara at home on Seniors Day that proved to be one of the most exciting UCD matches in recent history, reflecting the epitome of Aggie Pride. 

Mike O’Donnell drags defenders in for a try against the Broncos.

In the finale, the Aggies started strong and scored quickly, but the Broncs countered their early momentum and at one point went up by 27 points. It looked to many like it could be a sour end to the season for Davis.  But the boys rallied in the second half for what was described as one of the best comebacks in Russell Field history.  The final scoring surge featured a great run by second row Max Burns, who blew through the Santa Clara midfield after a lovely short ball from Captain Francis Schumann.  As Burns dragged defenders towards the Santa Clara try line, within 10 meters of the line, he produced a beautiful offload to loose head prop Jack Hansen who crashed it over the line for a try, bringing the boys within striking distance at 35-41.

Jack Hansen on the move.

Then with less than 2 minutes remaining, the Aggies gathered the kick-off and went through multiple phases before Captain Schumann crossed the line for a try, making the score 40-41 with the clock in the red.  A few moments later, Schumann caught his breath and calmly slotted the conversion to give Davis the win with a final score of 42 to 41!

Aggie Pride!

It was an especially great finale for the Seniors and for the whole club.

Davis finished the season with a 4-4 record in conference. More importantly they left the field with memories and friendships to last a lifetime.

Beyond UCD Rugby, shout out to Mike O’Donnell, Harrison Wheeler and Francis Schumann for their selections to the California Grizzlies Conference representative side as well. This was a tremendous honor, and followed in a long line of former Aggies who were selected for rep-side honors as a result of their efforts for Davis. Great job to all!

Next up… 2024-2025…

If you are in a position to help the boys get ready for the upcoming season, please consider supporting our club by visiting ucdavisrugby.com/donate and sharing whatever you can. As a club sport, they rely on generous contributions from supporters like you. Thank you and Go Ags! 🐴🏉

Aggies to make up game vs St. Mary's in Moraga on Sunday 4/3

The Aggies make up game vs St Mary’s will take place on Sunday, 4/3 at 12 NOON on the stadium field at the back of campus in Moraga

Ags Rally around Seniors for Huge Win vs Santa Clara

In their final home game of the season UC Davis Aggies faced off against the Santa Clara Broncos, a well respected club in the division.  Before the game started, the Aggies honored the players who will be leaving at the end of the season including seniors Sam Eddins (captain), Lucas Peters, Alexander Obodoefuna, William ‘Cole’ Lipelt, Aidan Moore, and visiting students Thomas Dowling (Ireland) and Roberto Natho (Chile).  This was the final home game for each of these players. And they made this game count.

From the start, UC Davis was controlled and accurate but it was the performance in the first scrum that set the tone for the remainder of the game.  The Aggies didn’t just hold the line, they trampled the opposition. Santa Clara didn’t do themselves any favors giving away penalty after penalty.  In the first 10 minutes of the game, the Aggies had already tagged 6 points on the board as a result of Bronco errors.  The Aggies quickly set a rhythm to the game capitalizing on Bronco penalties to gain meters and over the next 30 minutes scored five tries (four converted).  The Broncos finally had a break in the last minute of the half with an uncoverted try.  The score at half-time was 39 to 5.

Santa Clara came back in the second half stronger in defense and more controlled in their ball handling but within 15 minutes the Aggies scored another try.  The Aggies added points on the board with another penalty kick but then let Santa Clara in to score a try. It might have seemed that Santa Clara was perking up just as the Aggies fitness was starting to wane until the Aggies made a break just minutes later and bagged their sixth try of the game.  Unfortunately, with just about 10 minutes left in the game, Aggies #4 was penalized with a yellow card and the team would have to finish off the game one man down.  The final ten minutes was a testament to the resilience and determination of both sides. Santa Clara used the final 10 minutes of the game and the diminished numbers of their opposition to put three tries on the board while the Aggies pushed on making one final try.  The team memorialized the final try with Captain Sam Eddins stepping in to kick the conversion in his final home game. The game concluded with a score of 61 to the Aggies and 31 to the Broncos.

The coaching staff was pleased with the performance because it demonstrated everything they knew the players were capable of bringing to the game.  After a few disappointing losses this season, it was heartening to see everything come together for a group of very hard working young men.  When asked for comments, Coach Malpass said, “Davis showed up on Senior Day. It was wonderful to see the team finally start to tap into their abilities and play with some confidence.”

Aggies First Travel Game Proves Difficult

Reminder for the Final Home Game BBQ:

The UC Davis Men's Rugby Club invites you to return to Russell Field for the final home game of the '21-22 season as the Aggies face off against Santa Clara on March 12th.  A-sides clash at 1pm.

After the game, alumni and team parents are hosting a BBQ fundraiser as a tribute to the club's seniors, families and supporters.  We want you to come out and help us celebrate.  Find more details and RSVP here by March 8th:

https://ucdavisrugby.charityproud.org/EventRegistration/Index/8258

UCSB Recap:

The UC Davis Aggies suffered another disappointing loss on Saturday (February 19th) at their away game against the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos.  In the early minutes of the game, the Aggies appeared ready for the challenge, holding onto possession and making progress down the field.  However, their defense struggled and so did their set piece.  The first scrum of the game made the Gauchos’ dominance in the set piece abundantly clear and set up the play that would lead to the first try of the game for UCSB just ten minutes into the game. UCSB scored a second try ten minutes later.  

The Aggies fate seemed sealed until Azeh Kani’s quick thinking and speedy footwork chased down a UC Davis penalty kick that failed to find touch and was knocked back into the field where Azeh was perfectly positioned to secure possession for the Aggies.  This set up a great field position after a blistering run into midfield. From a quick ruck, a short pass sent to the blind side set up a series of pick and goes at the Gauchos’ line. The Gauchos finally succumbed to this leading to the Aggies’ Mike O’Donnell (#6) scoring their first try of the game with 10 minutes left in the first half.  

The teams returned to the field after half-time without a lot of changes. Both sides had some egregious ball handling errors but the slight advantage of the Gauchos’ set piece ultimately secured the game.  With a successful penalty kick ten minutes into the second half and then three tries within just a few minutes of each other in the fourth quarter, the Gauchos secured the win. The Aggies were able to slip in one final try. After a successful counterruck UCSB had taken possession and attempted to kick the ball down field. The kick was charged down by Aggies’ William Bradford (#7). The charge down was picked up by Aggies’ Aidan Moore (#3) and carried under the posts.  With this try, converted by Francis Schumann (#12), the game closed with a score of 34 Gauchos to 12 Aggies.

The coaching staff and players were disappointed with the result.  

Coach Malpass felt the team struggled to handle the difficulties of travel.  This was the first travel game in 2 years and the affects of the long drive and quick game turnaround proved difficult.

On a positive note, due to continuing injury crises, we were forced to give some inexperienced players the opportunity to play first team rugby thus increasing the depth of experience through the squad.” 

Special mention has to go to the heroic efforts in defense of Guy Barrons (#9) and William Bradford (#7). Both players never gave up on the defensive effort and saved the team from what could have been a worse score line. 

Thank you to Santa Barbara’s new coaching team and players for being excellent hosts and demonstrating a classy program.