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Coach Clark describes the incoming group as "what has become for us a typical recruiting class: Californian, heavy in crossover athletes, some with limited rugby experience, many with family connections to our University, and the majority of which were first identified at our summer camp."

The six new players who attended Cal Rugby Summer Camps include one from Sacramento rugby juggernaut Jesuit High School, which again sends one of its best to Cal. Also figuring prominently in this year's class are four players from De La Salle High School in Concord.

These arrivals reflect the evolving connections between Cal Rugby and both programs, particularly the deepening bond with De La Salle Football, also one of the most successful athletic programs in the nation.

"Jack Clark's Cal rugby program and our football program parallel each other in a lot of different ways," commented DLS head football coach Bob Ladouceur, who enters 2007 with a 319-20-3 record (.933) and has led the Spartans to 17 undefeated seasons, including a 12-season, 151-game winning streak from 1992-2003. "Our philosophies are very similar. You have to be willing to dedicate yourself 100 per cent to the sport."

Coach Ladouceur has seen his former players move on to the highest levels of both gridiron and rugby, with Witter Rugby Field in Strawberry Canyon becoming the new home for many of his former players, including three-time All-American Chris Biller, who is now a senior.

"Kids who come from our football program into Cal's rugby program, they know what it takes," said Ladouceur, who has been named National Coach of the Year several times and was enshrined in the National High School Hall of Fame in 2001. "These players are familiar with pressure games and not afraid of pushing themselves. They have the work ethic. It's a comfortable transition."

The nearby Lamorinda Youth Rugby Club also figures prominently among this year's new players, four of whom have brought valuable playing experience from days under an all-Cal alumni staff that includes former football and rugby great John Dixon '76 as head coach and former national championship try-scoring wing Matt Taylor '82 as youth program manager.

The Elsie Allen Youth Rugby Club in Santa Rosa and the Peninsula Youth Rugby Club in Redwood City round out the rugby backgrounds of this year's Cal recruits.

"We seldom recruit with our positional needs in mind, instead choosing to identify the best young men we can find that are a match with our opportunities here at Cal," Clark said. "To that end, each of these young men is an outstanding student whom we feel will excel at Cal."

Player Capsules by Position and School/Team:

Jeremy Deterding, Carmichael, Calif.
Prop, Jesuit High School
Jeremy achieved Honor Roll every semester and was a member of the 2006 high school rugby national champions and 2007 national finalists under head coach John Shorey. The 6-2, 245-pound Deterding was also a standout varsity football lineman at Jesuit, captaining the team his senior year.
Jeremy, who plans to pursue a pre-medical degree, attended the 2006 Cal Rugby Summer Camp. The Jesuit rugby program, which sends Jeremy to Cal in the pathway of fellow graduates and current Bears such as Colin Hawley and Louis Stanfill, is managed by Fred Khasigian, a former U.S. National Team player whose sons, Kyle and Kirk, were both All-American ruggers for the Bears. Kirk, who continued in his father's Eagles footsteps as a 37-capped U.S. international, is currently head coach of the Sacramento-area
Under-19 All-Stars.

Steven Fujimoto, Oakland, Calif.
Prop/Hooker, De La Salle High School
The 5-10, 230-pound Fujimoto played rugby and football for the Spartans, where he was a gridiron lineman and special-teams captain, earning all-league honors his senior year. He is a transfer junior from San Diego Mesa College who intends to major in political science at the University.

Zack Klaas, Castro Valley, Calif.
Flanker/No. 8, De La Salle High School
Klaas was named Most Valuable Forward his junior year on the 2006 rugby team at De La Salle before suffering an injury his senior season. He also played football as a two-way starting lineman for the 13-1 Spartans, the North Coast 4A Sectional champions in 2006 whose only loss occurred in the state championship game. At 6-1 and 210 pounds, Zack enters the University having attended Cal Rugby Summer Camp in 2004 and 2006. He intends to pursue a pre-medical degree.

Aran Nafisi, Walnut Creek, Calif.
Center/Wing, De La Salle High School
Nafisi, at 5-10 and 190 pounds, competed in rugby as well as football for the Spartans, starting as a defensive back. Aran was named Most Improved Player on the 2007 DLS rugby team following the same honor which he earned at the 2006 Cal Rugby Summer Camp.

Derek Sagehorn, Antioch, Calif.
Prop/Hooker, De La Salle High School
The third forward to enter Cal this year from De La Salle, Derek was a captain of the Spartans' Bay Conference Championship rugby team his senior year under coaches Paul Still, a former U.S. National Team member, and Brian Serafino. Sagehorn also played as a two-way football lineman for DLS as they became the 2006 North Coast 4A sectional champions and state finalists. Derek, who arrives in Berkeley on a 5-11, 225-pound frame, attended the Cal Rugby Summer Camp from 2003-05 and was a member of the
U-19 National Team, though he missed out on the World Championships this past spring in Northern Ireland. His father is Michael Sagehorn, a USA Rugby Youth Development Officer for Northern California and longtime coach of the Cal Rugby Summer Camp.

Phillip Burrows, Orinda, Calif.
Flanker, Lamorinda Youth Rugby Club
Burrows is a 6-2, 195-pound back-rower who arrives at Cal as a sophomore, having graduated Miramonte High School and attended Diablo Valley College for one year, during which he also played rugby for San Francisco Golden Gate's Under-23 team. Burrows also played four years of varsity football in high school, starting his senior year as a fullback and linebacker.
Phillip's father, Bruce, was known as a speedy wide receiver when he lettered in football for the Bears in 1968. Burrows intends to pursue a major in political science.

Drew Hyjer, Orinda, Calif.
Flanker/No. 8, Lamorinda Youth Rugby Club At 6-3 and 212 pounds, Hyjer is slated to play in the back row at Cal. The Miramonte High School graduate captained his football team as a linebacker, competed in track in the shot put and discus, and wrestled at the varsity level in the 191- and 215-pound weight classes. A transfer sophomore from Diablo Valley College who also notched a year of rugby experience with SFGG U-23, Drew attended the 2005 Cal Rugby Summer Camp.
He is undecided on his academic major.

Connor Ring, Lafayette, Calif.
Scrumhalf, Lamorinda Youth Rugby Club
The 5-6, 165-pound graduate of Acalanes High School and "Lamo" rugger has played fullback and scrumhalf, but figures to focus on scrumhalf for the Bears. An attendee at the 2006 Cal Rugby Summer Camp, Ring also enjoyed success on the high-school gridiron as a running back, ending his senior year as a first-team selection and leading scorer in the Diablo Football Athletic League, a Bay Area All-Star and a top-10 rusher in the region with over 1500 yards. His father, Terence, and grandfather are both Cal alumni. Connor enters Cal with an undecided academic major.

Rob Sullivan, Moraga, Calif.
Lock, Lamorinda Youth Rugby Club
At 6-5 and 270 pounds, Sullivan has transferred to Cal and will join the rugby program after playing one year of football at the University of Nevada, Reno. Rob participated in basketball, track and football at Miramonte High School, where, going into his senior year in 2005, ESPN.com named him the 39th-best football recruit at guard in the country and The San Francisco Chronicle tabbed him one of the region's top-five lineman.
Rob was an all-state and all-metro selection following his senior season.
Sullivan earned a football scholarship to Nevada, where assistant coach Jim Mastro told The Reno Gazette Journal that Rob was "the best lineman that I personally have ever recruited." Entering the University of California as a sophomore, Sullivan is a Cal legacy of his parents, David and B. Ann, and three grandparents. Rob's academic major is undecided.

Travis Benson, San Carlos, Calif.
Scrumhalf, Peninsula Youth Rugby Club
A starter on the U.S. U-19 National Team that competed in the second division of the world championships in Northern Ireland in 2007, Benson captained the Peninsula Green Beavers Youth Rugby Club under coach Paul Negus and was named the MVP of the silver division at the 2006 Pacific Coast High School Invitationals at Stanford. An Eagle Scout who checks in at 5-9 and 165 pounds, Benson also served as captain on the varsity soccer and lacrosse teams at Sacred Heart High School. Travis attended the 2006 Cal Rugby Summer Camp.

Nicholas Maloney, Sebastopol, Calif.
Wing/Fullback, Elsie Allen Youth Rugby Club Maloney, a 6-1, 175-pound winger, graduated Analy High School and played rugby for three years under coach Alan Petty, a Cal Rugby alumnus who also heads the football coaching staff and directs the athletic department at Elsie Allen High School. On the gridiron, Maloney was a signal caller who notched over 2000 yards passing in both his junior and senior years. He set Analy school records as a junior with single-game marks of six touchdowns and 360 yards passing. He also participated in track & field.
Prior to high school, Maloney was a six-year participant in 4H activities.
He is interested in a possible major in psychology.