Central’s men’s rugby team starts its  trek for the Varsity Cup Rugby Championship on the Wildcat Rugby Pitch this Saturday with a match against the UCLA Bruins.

The Wildcats are getting the opportunity to play a match at home for the first time in almost a month and a half.

“It’s massive for us,” said head coach Tony Pacheco. “To hear the cheers of the home fans, a lot of parents and family members… that’s special. We’ve got a good pitch here. It’s nice and wide and plays fast. That’s how we like it.”

The Wildcats will soon return to the Penn Mutual Varsity Cup Rugby Championship after being knocked out in the semifinals last year. They are feeling good about this year after being able to play some more challenging opponents to get them ready for this year’s tournament than in years past.

“Playing a tougher opponent gives you a good measuring stick of where you are, so you can kinda go from there and watch film and correct mistakes moving forward,” said senior center Tanner Barnes. “In previous seasons our downfall has always been we never get a tough match leading up.”

Central got the opportunity to face defending Varsity Cup champions Brigham Young University and the University of Victoria, a strong Canadian team, over the past month.

The team dropped both matches on the road, but was able to take away some positives from the games.

Sophomore wing Seth Halliman said the team impressed itself while keeping up with some good teams.

Central was set for one final tune-up heading into the cup this last Saturday against the Air Force Academy, another competitor in the Varsity Cup tournament, but the game was cancelled due to scheduling issues.

“We wanted the game for sure,” Pacheco said. “Disappointed that they couldn’t travel.”

Central could take one positive away from the weekend off.

“We’ll be healthy, that’ll be a plus,” Barnes said.

Scheduling opposing teams can be an issue for the team because of its location. Many of the national powerhouses of the sport would have to travel halfway or more across the country to get to Ellensburg, which causes the Wildcats to schedule weaker opponents nearby to keep the team sharp.

“It’s always nice to play,” Barnes said. “We’ve had a couple teams pull out on us this year. It’s just tough where we are and where we’re located—teams kind of bail last minute, which is a little frustrating.”

Since UCLA is a part of the Pac-12 conference, they have an opportunity to face tougher opponents on a regular basis. This is something Barnes said favors the Bruins.

Another challenge the Wildcats will face against the Bruins is defending their athleticism.

“They can really use their feet and their quickness to score,” Pacheco said. “You can be handling them for quite a while and all the sudden they break out and score, so we have to stay disciplined.”

To counter the Bruins’ athleticism, the Wildcats will look to use their size and strength to beat the Bruins.

“We should have a size advantage, hopefully a physicality advantage against them,” Pacheco said. “We have to use that to kind of wear them down.”

By wearing down UCLA, Central will hope to slow down the speed the Bruins bring to the table.

Halliman believes the Wildcats are up for the challenge.

“We’re a great athletic team,” Halliman said. “Very dominant in terms of strength.”

The winner of this match will travel to face the winner of Air Force versus the University of Utah on Saturday, April 16.