Cal and BYU played yet another collegiate final of the ages, a game that was in doubt until the end, not always pretty, but always physical, and always compelling.

Before over 10,000 paying fans, mostly likely the biggest crowd to see a non-international rugby match in modern American rugby history, Cal won 21-14, and broke BYU hearts.

“It’s very difficult to take,” said BYU flyhalf Dylan Lubbe. “We’ve come a long way this year, but the whole game just turned on some mistakes. We made mistakes in their 22 and it cost us the game.”

“It was a heavyweight match,” added Cal flanker and captain Derek Asbun. “Every inch of the field was contested for all 80 minutes. And an amazing battle. We had some great performances and a full team effort, and we needed it. Jason Law subbing in, Drew Hyjer stealing lineout balls. James Bailes playing great, as he has all year. Just an amazing game.”

BYU captain Ryan Round was physically and emotionally beat up. Shaking his head as he removed the tape from his wrists.

“I definitely believe in our team; we put points on the board all year, but we made too many mistakes and they took advantage of it,” he said. “Too many set-piece errors. They defended well, and it was just a close game, a great game.”

The coaches, too, understood how tight it was.

“It’s tough and it’s a little bit disappointing,” said BYU Head Coach David Smyth. “Cal came in with a good game plan and obviously didn’t want us to get much ball. They kept it tight, went north and south, got numbers into the rucks, and got across the gain line every time. When we did get the ball I thought  we were a wee bit too impatient.

“But all-in-all, the effort was there. The kids were magnificent. It’s just one of those games that’s a battle. You hope you do enough to win it. We didn’t, they did.”

Cal Head Coach Jack Clark had similar thoughts.

“We took away a couple of balls; we poached a few lineouts, and that really helped us,” Clark told RUGBYMag.com . “We got a big tighthead at the end of the game. But we were less than perfect. We missed touch on a penalty and had a chance to get down in [their] half with two, three minutes left and just sit on the ball. Then they run out of  bounds, they give us the beachhead anyway and we miss the lineout.

“So it was one of those games where we were just not perfect, and we played our guts out is what we did. They weren’t perfect and they played their guts out. Somebody had to win, and I’m grateful it was us.”

The USA 7s team finished Saturday hugely disappointed after they lost 24-17 to France and finished 1-2.

They had the chance to win their pool, and instead finished 4^th out of four.

Head Coach Al Caravelli said silly mistakes undid his team, specifically that old bugaboo, 50-50 passes.

“They know it, they know we had the opportunity and what we need to do tomorrow,” Caravelli told RUGBYMag.com. “It’s frustrating but we had some positives and we have to stay positive.”

Caravelli pointed to his team’s five-minute comeback from 21-0 down to beat Argentina.

“Seeing that, I feel that if we stay patient, and we play the way we can play, there is no one in the world that can stop us,” said Caravelli. “It might take us five minutes to score a try, but we’ll score it.”

Sunday the USA opens against Spain, and Caravelli said he does not expect his players to take them lightly.

“Spain is really good; they finished third in the European circuit,” he said. “They have beaten England. They are a good team.”

Still, expect lineup changes. The four teams with IRB World Series points that are behind the USA are all in the Bowl bracket. This means one of them (or the USA, Spain, England or Kenya) will get some points and the rest won’t, making it much more likely that the Eagles will remain among the top 12.

That may explain why Caravelli said he is not especially concerned with getting IRB points.

“I am concerned with getting a team for the Pan-Am Games,” he said. As a result, Caravelli will be giving some more playing time to players such as newcomer Cam Dolan, and Miles Craigwell, who had a very strong performance against Argentina.

Nese Malifa, who has been getting about two minutes a game, is expected to play more, too.