Portal:2003 Spring Men/Intro
National Champions! (posting the first win over Cal Berkeley after 8 previous Air Force losses since 1969). Coach Holder had tried to model the way we played tournaments off of Cal. They would always start essentially a B side on the first day and then their A was fresh on the second day (against in theory the better opponent). We did the same all year, building up great depth and keeping guys fresh. Unfortunately though, we drew Cal in the Semi’s so of course we had to start our A’s on Saturday but they still started some of their B's. We scored in the first two minutes and never looked back. In the finals, Harvard was an upstart (15 seed), so Coach Holder rewarded the B side and started them in the Finals. It ended up a little close for comfort, so many of the A's were in by the end of the game, but was a great full team effort all year.
Here are some documents that paint that picture:
Overview - http://www.erugbynews.com/goffonrugby/archive/Articles/menscollege050503.htm
From Cal point of view - http://www.sfgate.com/sports/article/Cal-stunned-in-rugby-semis-Air-Force-to-face-2650890.php
Video of the first 20 minutes - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgOLVmYY9UQ
Marc Ward's story - http://www.afpc.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123201120
