The men’s and women’s programs will both be playing on their home turf Saturday, Oct. 21 to kick off the fall rugby slate — both programs riding high after successful 2023 spring seasons. Cal Poly’s home field can be found at E Creek Rd, San Luis Obispo, CA 93405 on Cal Poly’s campus. Women start with tough test The women match up against California Berkeley at 5 p.m. on the Lower Sports Complex Fields. It’s trial by fire for the Mustangs. Cal’s program competes in Division I’s Pacific Mountain Conference. Note: You can see more on the women’s website, womens.calpolyrugby.com. Last season the ..read more

The Mustangs, fresh off a two-game road trip in Texas, secured a spot in the 2023 College Rugby Association of America D1A playoffs, grabbing the No. 6 seed in the West Bracket. Cal Poly will play the California Golden Bears at Witter Rugby Field in Berkeley, Calif. on Saturday, April 8. Kickoff is 1 p.m. A full preview of that match will be posted in the coming days. D1A playoff bracket, West.Tickets Tickets are available on the Cal Bears website, linked here. Individual adult tickets are $10. Groups of 10 or more can purchase tickets for as low as $3. Senior and youth tickets are both $5. A ..read more

On March 19, 2021, alum and former front row Mike “Oak” O’Connell passed away at the age of 67 due to a prolonged illness. O’Connell grew up in Salinas California, where he attended Palma High School. He is also an alum of Hartnell College.  In 1976 O’Connell transferred into Cal Poly where he played for Cal Poly Rugby Football Club on the “Poly Pika’s” squad for two years. This squad was a “self-coached team in those days,” said Charles Zanoli, MRI- Director of Rugby. “Mike and I were both Tight-head Props and I’d like to think I taught him all the finer points of Front Row work.” After ..read more

After six unforgettable seasons with the Mustangs, head coach James Tesoriero bids his farewells as he transitions into his new career with Randwick Rugby Club of his native Sydney, Australia. Tesoriero, who has been guiding the Mustangs this season remotely through Zoom sessions and pre-recorded videos per local Covid-19 guidelines, officially stepped down from his role at the end of the 2021 winter quarter. “Since I was isolated from my family in Australia for more than a year due to the pandemic, when I was offered this position with Randwick rugby club, it presented the opportunity to retu ..read more

The “Mustangs in Major League Rugby” series features each of our three Cal Poly Rugby Club alum currently in the MLR. Up next: Nathan Sylvia for the San Diego Legion. Sylvia, a San Diego native like his teammate Patrick Madden, graduated from Cal Poly in 2017 earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science. During his time as a Mustang, Sylvia was named as a 2016 USA Rugby Collegiate All-American Honorable Mention. Also in 2016, Sylvia played for Tamworth Pirates with a few college teammates – then, in 2017, he earned an invitation to the Collegiate All-American camp at Chula Vista during his ..read more

The “Mustangs in Major League Rugby” series features each of our three Cal Poly Rugby Club alum currently in the MLR. Up next: Max Tacket for the Houston Sabercats. Tacket, a San Luis Obispo native, graduated from Cal Poly in 2015 earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Forestry and Natural Resources with a minor in Geographic Informations Systems. During one of his successful seasons as a Mustang, Tacket was selected for the USA Hawks 7’s team to compete in the 2014 Serevi Rugbytown Sevens at Infinity Park in Glendale, Colorado. Shortly after graduating, Tacket moved to Sydney, Australia, where he pla ..read more

The “Mustangs in Major League Rugby” series features each of our three Cal Poly Rugby Club alum currently in the MLR. The first article of this series visits the Mustang who most recently made the transition to the major league: Patrick Madden for the San Diego Legion. Madden, a San Diego native, is the first Cal Poly student in history to be drafted to a professional rugby team before graduating. The San Diego Legion drafted Madden as the 12th overall and final pick of the first round, one of three projected fly-halfs to be selected among the 24 players drafted. Throughout his impressive care ..read more

California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) graduate and former Mustangs rugby standout Shelby Robinett — who now works for the U.S. Forest Service as a crewmember of the Arroyo Grande Hotshots — is helping fight the El Dorado fire in the San Bernardino National Forest. Robinett, an environmental management and protection major who played with the Mustangs for three seasons and was a pivotal piece in their historic undefeated season in 2020, joined the Hotshots after graduation this past spring. “Sheb has an incredible work ethic and a ‘can-do’ mentality that have shaped our club’s ..read more