The D1A Rugby National Championship will have a familiar feel on Saturday after the Saint Mary's Gaels and Life Running Eagles both notched semifinal wins this past weekend to set up their fifth straight meeting for the title. The championship match is being hosted at Saint Mary's Stadium in Moraga, CA, and kickoff is scheduled for 4 PM PT.

In the semifinal round, top-ranked SMC marched past a defiant Arizona squad 43-7 at home. The No. 14 Wildcats became just the third team to hold the Gaels under 50 points -- Cal and BYU (twice). Meanwhile, No. 2 Life held off third-ranked BYU 36-26 in a back-and-forth battle in Marietta, GA.

Over the past four years, the Gaels and Running Eagles have each won two national titles. In 2013, Life bested Saint Mary's with a 16-14 title victory. Over the next two years, the Gaels rebounded to grab back-to-back championship wins over the Running Eagles, with a 21-6 triumph in 2014 and a 30-24 victory in 2015. A year ago, Life came away with a 24-20 win over Saint Mary's.

Even after a 36-point win in the semifinals, the Gaels know they will need to clean up their performance if they don't want a repeat of last year's finals against a strong and disciplined Life defense that will be looking to keep Saint Mary's off the scoreboard.

"It's great to secure a win [against Arizona, but we are] very concerned about our errors, the majority unforced," SMC head coach Tim O'Brien said." Life will destroy us if we are careless and inefficient... To beat Life, you need to be at your very best in the most basic elements of the sport and combine it with bunch of luck."

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