PROVO, Utah -- This weekend the BYU rugby team will meet up with the Cal Golden Bears in the Varsity Cup championship game. If BYU wins, they will be the first college team ever to win four championships in a row.
The Cal and BYU rugby teams are very familiar with each other.
Nine championship meetings have sparked a rivalry between the Golden Bears and Cougars.
"It's an exciting rivalry, it's been going on now for quite a while," said BYU head coach David Smyth.
"We see them every year for the most important game so no doubt there is some rivalry involved," BYU senior lock Daniel Hubert said.
"It's very, very tough. People ask, ‘what do you do to get ready, are you excited, are you worried,’ yeah all of the above because every time we play them it's just a battle," Smyth said.
Smyth said the Cougars have become true competitors for the Golden Bears over the years.
"There were one of two times at the start where they had us pretty good, but the last six or seven games have been so close that you never know who's going to win until the final whistle. It's exciting, it's nerve wrecking and here we go again," Smyth said.
These championship wins are more than accolades to the Cougars, they are driving interest in the sport of rugby across Utah.
"It's good to just keep building up the program, building up rugby, especially rugby at BYU," Hubert said. "As we continue to win like this we are getting more boys coming to the program and building up the program."
The end goal for the Cougars is within grasp and hope one last week of hard work will pay off on Saturday.
"Being able to play at Rio Tinto we want to put our best foot forward in front of our own fans. We are working hard, so hopefully if the stars are all aligned right on Saturday afternoon we'll have a good run," Smyth said.
The Varsity Cup game is Saturday, May 2 at 2:00 p.m. in Rio Tinto Stadium, located in Sandy at 9256 S. State Street.
