Opposite the first two weekends of play, this weekend was a deluge and appeared to be in our favour with the unplayable fields in Victoria shifting the games to Shawnigan Lake. Unfortunately the opponent across the board on the boy’s side was Castaway Wanderers, top of the league in all three divisions.

 Though the u14’s only lost by one point in a very close match, they missed scoring about four tries and should have won the game. The u16’s were handed their third defeat and it is not for the lack of trying, we are just missing some horsepower in the forwards, which has us chasing the ball most of the time. The u18’s knew they would be in tough going up against a rep player laden team. The three try difference didn’t reflect the game that was a ground and pound fight most of the time but their backs were fire, so the ball was out and gone.

 Hanging our winning hopes on the girls wasn’t to be, as the very experienced Cowichan team scored four tries to one at their home field in north Duncan. Delivering the proverbial goose egg for the club for the weekend.

Another beautiful day and triple header host duties, this time the three JBAA Bears came to huff and puff but only one house got knocked over. In similar fashion to last weekend our U14 and 18 boys had an easy go on the day, running up a big score in the first half and then moving players around in the second to try a new position. Lot’s of rotation on/off the field and most importantly there was no disrespect to the other teams.

The U16 boys on the other hand came up against a team that were a seasoned unit that have been playing together for a while and seemed to endlessly be on their front foot attacking. They were stronger, faster and seemed to have the ball the majority of the time. We did manage to prevent a shutout but it was a tough day, loosing one of pour top players on the first kick off.

The U16 girls playing as the Salish/Shores pulled out a big win 68 to 29 against Castaway Wanderers (CW) at home in Colwood.

Coming up this weekend is the Thanksgiving break then we are at Windsor Park in Oak Bay the following Sunday with all three boys teams. The girls will be playing at Herd Road in the North Cowichan, so it is close for the local families. I’ll be returning from Guatemala that day, so good luck to all!

On a glorious sunny day at Shawnigan, all three boys teams hosted the Comox Rapids to kick off the season. Though no pictures were taken for proof, we finished the day two games to one. The u14 game stayed quite close for most of the first half with some big runners wearing Comox purple. Our boys however, really threw the ball around with a couple scores to end the half and then a blow out second. The team looked dominate with multiple phases with the ball and line breaks to score, ripping the game wide open.

The u16’s had a much tougher go with some solid running and tackling from the Rapids. The game went right down to the wire however we were defeated by a point.

Our u18’s on the other hand cruised to a lopsided win that appeared evident from the first kickoff. By half time players were being switched around and a few of our guys helping bolster their team. Unfortunately Cohen Huisamen received an injury to his hand that may sideline him for a bit.

Last was our u16 girls team travelled to Westshore with both teams short on numbers so they played sevens and have ultimately decided to combine for the season so they can participate in full fifteen play. So I will keep you posted on how that evolves along.

For the second year in a row our under 14 boys kicked off the year at the Kamloops’s Sevens, this time accompanied by the U16 girls in the Competitive division and the U18 boys participating in the Elite. Day one saw all three teams go undefeated with the 14’s scoring 127 points to 14 with two shutouts. The 16 girls also broke a hundred going 101 to 15 against and the 18 boys scored 106 to 26. A good day for the club. The sun was shining, and everyone felt good.

Day two proved to be tougher, facing top teams in the other pools on a wet overcast day. The girls went up against a polished JBAA team that went on to be crowned champs, losing 41/7 and then faced last year’s champions Abbotsford in the bronze medal game, coming up short 22/14. The U14 won their semi final game in a close one against St. Albert 22/19 but came up short against Langley 26/12 to win a Silver medal. The U18 boys also won their semi final in a tough 15/10 hard hitting game against Abbotsford however Langley was prepared to spoil the party for both boys’ teams and literally sprinted to a 36/15 win for the championship. They came at us flying and the ball just didn’t bounce our way.

In all it was a great experience for the players and there is no better way to kick off the season then with a road trip for team building. This looks to be an annual event, so let’s do it again next year. More pictures to come.

Salish Sea Warriors RFC