March 24, 2009
Cowichan RFC weekend's results
PREMIER MEN: Cowichan 20 vs Burnaby Lakers 47
1ST DIV. MEN: Cowichan 37 vs Burnaby Lake 17
1ST DIV. WOMEN: Cowichan over Port Alberni by default
3RD DIV. MEN: Cowichan vs Comox (N/A)
U-16 BOYS: Cowichan 61 vs Velox 24
OTHER RESULTS
Prems:
JBAA 57 vs UBC OB 0
Meraloma 69 vs Rowers 3
Capilanos 44 vs Castaway Wanderers 6
Velox 26 vs UBC 17
Bayside 24 vs U-Vic 13
1st Div. Men:
JBAA 54 vs UBC OB 0
Meraloma 51 vs Rowers 19
Capilanos 51 vs Castaway Wanderers 19
UBC 31 vs Velox 14
U-Vic 36 vs Bayside 13
Other scores
Nanaimo 29 vs Abbotsford 12
Port Alberni 15 vs Kamloops 55
GAME REPORTS
The Senior Men travelled to South Surrey Athletic Park to play Burnaby at Bayside's home field due to Burnaby's fields being closed. The Piggies, depleted by a combination of injury, sickness, suspension and players being away for Spring Break, knew the task at hand would be a difficult one. With a very short bench, those that remained, put in a gutsy performance and unlike many of the other clubs this weekend, Cowichan was able to compete in all three men's games played. (There was 6 forfeits in the Mainland 3rd Div. League this weekend with clubs like Burnaby, Bayside, Rowers, UBC and Brit Lions all giving up on their 3rd Division games in order to bolster their 1st's and 2nd's)
The playing conditions were ideal in Surrey all be it the amenities we are used to at our club (changerooms, washrooms, food etc.) were quite a hike away from the actual area of play.
The 1st's are on a bit of a roll lately with 3 straight win's under their belts and now in the midst of a playoff berth. If everything goes our way we could end at with a first rounder at home. Not bad for a team that was playing in the BC Wide 2nd Div. at this time last year. This sound 37-17 victory this past weekend vaulted Cowichan over the Castaway Wanderers and Bayside and now sit in 5th spot in the CDI 1st Div. league. The score was 22-3 at the half. Early in the second saw Burnaby creep up to 22-17 at the 60 minute mark only to have the Piggies rebound to end the game with 3 straight tries (including one at the final whistle that was not counted.)
The Prems. started off slow and quickly found themselves down 10-0 after some long breaking runs by the Burnaby backs. The game was frustrating as Cowichan had double the opportunities to score points than the opposition, yet Burnaby came away with the win. Cowichan was on the Burnaby goal line at least 15 times in this game yet only came away with 3 total rumbles into the end zone. Burnaby capitalized on simple Cowichan mistakes and this made the difference. The scoreline certainly did not reflect the balance of play, yet, Burnaby, through the leadership of wily old veteren, Colin McKenzie, came away with the victory.
Burnaby has only been able to play one home game this season due to the field conditions. I am not making any excuses for our performance on the day, but the win for Burnaby, according to some of their executive, was crucial for their club to keep moving along.
Next week we host the Vancouver Rowing Club who will visit Piggie Park for the first time in a few years. The Rowers are just ahead of the Piggies in the Premier standings and this is a game that should prove interesting yet crucial as we all juggle and vye for the best placing possible as the season nears an end.
Several of Cowichan's key missing players for the last couple of weeks should all be back which should bring that extra umph our boys need to secure victory.
A reflection at this time in this, our first Premier season in 11 years. Our Prems sit at 10th presently out of a 12 team league that really is the top rugby league in North America. We have a win to date and a couple of other matches could have been ours if we perhaps zigged instead of zagged. We have a couple of winable games left at home and a goal of placing higher than our current position in the standings.
7 of the 12 Premiership Clubs don't have 3 men's teams or have been forfeiting many of their 3rds games. A Burnaby member commented this past weekend, "a measuring stick of the health of a club is how competitive they are in the lower divisions." How true. Our 3rds are riding high and our 2nds are playing beyond expectations this Spring in the CDI League! To back this up we have a very good Junior program that will evolve players in the right direction. We played a game a couple of weeks ago and an official from that Premier team stated that his boy was the only Prem. starter that actually came through their Junior program.
Winning always makes everything right and good. We cannot expect to have immediate results in this League. We need to be patient and it will come.
NEXT WEEKS GAMES
Saturday, March 28
11:30am: 1st Div. Women-Cowichan Women vs JBAA
1:00pm: 1st Div. Men-Cowichan vs Vancouver Rowing Club
2:45pm: CDI Premier Men-Cowichan vs Vancouver Rowing Club
Sunday, March 29
1:00pm: 3rd Div. Men-Cowichan vs Velox @ Velox
2:30pm: U-16 Boys-Cowichan vs Comox @ Vanier Secondary, Comox.
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