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April 23 2010

Just some tidbits to keep everyone up on the news regarding rugby in and around us....

This past weekend saw the 1st Div Men come back from a 17 point deficit to end up beating Velox 24-17. That puts us in 5th place in the standings with one game to go. We are tied with 3 other clubs and two clubs are below but within two points. This weekend's tilt vs Bayside could determine out positioning at season's end.

Normally, 6 teams out of the 12 would make the playoffs. This year, U-Vic has announced that the Norsemen have pulled out of the playoff picture and in fact leaves the 7th place club in the playoff picture. This increases our options significantly and with U-Vic dropping out, it has moved us into a potential 4th place finish and home playoff match if we win the weekend's match. We hold our destiny in our hands.

The Prems last weekend, despite missing 6 starters (3 to the Rugby Canada U-20 Camp and 3 to injury) played fairly well. The Piggies were winning at the half only to come up short in the second half. The Velox #8, Dean Budd, who has signed another Super 14 contract and played for the Auckland Blues last season, was the class of the game. Without him, Velox is quite average. His dad, Mike Budd, was at the game and he is a director of the Auckland Blues. He had stories of playing for a NZ provincial side on tour here in the 80's when they played Canada and BC. He was quite impressed with our facility.

The women struggles a bit against the Capilanos over there this past weekend. The Premiership is a big step and we expected to be competitive which we have been. The wins will come, like we did 5 years ago when we started the women's program in the 1st Div.

VIRU Meeting Round Up

All the Premiership clubs in the Vancouver Rugby Union and in the VIRU are against relegation. Looks like relegation is done and finished.

The new proposal I believe is a good one in that we play on the Island for 2/3 of the year (until March) then we are tiered into 3-4 tiers as per a ranking system with the rest of the province. The Prems will play each island team 3 times and the 1st will play a home and away series with each island team for the first 2/3 of the season. Way better for travel and inter club stuff.

Each following season we start all over again. No one gets relegated, everyone will keep their players as all teams have an opportunity to move into the top tier. As Granny said to the VIRU President after the discussion, "It's just like it was 15 years ago!"

This is good for Cowichan and rugby in general. We compete against the tough Island teams and if we win, we get promoted for the last 1/3 of the season to an interlock vs the Mainland sides. If not, we stay in a 2nd tier with another Victoria side maybe Nanaimo and similar clubs on the Mainland. Less travel and more home games........

I think for the club this new proposal and the fact that relegation seems to be a dead issue will give cause for some relaxation and more enjoyment for everyone. The immense pressure that relegation brought on over my last 5 years as President has been a negative for sure. Continually battling politically to try and keep the club on course. This is a breath of fresh air and this will help everyone in the club. Players, Coaches, Supporters and Executive can now enjoy the game without the worry of a loss meaning potential relegation and doom.

Continually battling at the political level on this issue was not fun. The tension was always there amongst the club members. I believe the players also felt this intense pressure and it has shown on the field. After a loss the relegation issue was always there wearing on the guys. Team performance without this encumbrance will improve....everyone can relax and worry about winning a championship and not about getting relegated.

I think that now with this issue hopefully gone, and this pressure now relieved will give the new President a measure of confidence that he/she can work on more positive things like recruiting, selling the game etc. A great chance to move forward.

Mini Rugby Jamboree

Last Sunday, CRFC held a mini rugby jamboree at Shawnigan Lake School. Over 300 boys and girls participated from four clubs: Nanaimo, Velox, CW and Cowichan. The event was supported by the Rugby Canada Foundation and they made a short video on the event: http://canadianrugbyfoundation.ca/content/mini-rugby-camp-shawnigan-lake

JJ