The men's rugby team ends its home schedule with a double dose of California this weekend, returning to action against Cal State Long Beach today at 3 p.m. and UCLA at noon Sunday at Estevan Park.
Arizona returned to the win column two weeks ago with a 54-22 win over San Diego. The victory was the Wildcats' 14th in the series and snapped the team's four-game losing streak.
Building on their latest success Feb. 27 against Long Beach will require "being switched on," said head coach Dave Sitton.
"Offensive rugby is a series of phases," Sitton said. "We'll run five or six very nice phases, have one or two that we'll run and mess up, and say, 'Well, who thought that was a good idea?'
"We're very strange. We can march down a field 80 yards anytime we want, but when we get inside the red zone, we just go somewhere else."
The team plays its second of three consecutive So-Cal Conference games Sunday against UCLA. The Wildcats' 24-22 loss to San Diego State on Feb. 20 dropped the team's division mark to 2-3 entering this weekend.
"We've already played the best teams in our conference, so we really shouldn't lose any more of these games," said junior fullback Aaron Land.
Some Wildcat ruggers will make their final home hurrah against the Bruins. Seniors Nathan Eggman, Patrick Hadley and Peter Wyatt are among those playing their last regular-season games in Tucson this weekend.
The team finishes its regular season March 12 at Arizona State.
"We can't go into the summer on a down note," said Sitton, who added that the team will probably accept a postseason tournament invitation after the season. "We're going to lose guys in our senior class who are going to move on with their lives, (but) the rest are back. We have to go into the summer with a winning attitude, with a winning record, and get at it next fall when we get back."
Sitton said he expects everyone to work hard through the team's final three games and beyond.
"It's one of those deals where, similar to the (men's) basketball team, we have to take everyone seriously," said Sitton. "Our guys just have to realize that the players from UCLA and Long Beach really don't care what they've done the past two years, or even this year. They're there and they want to win. We want to take the victory from them."