The University of Victoria Vikes men’s rugby team appears to be peaking at the perfect time with the BC Premier League playoffs just a few weeks away. The Vikes returned home from the mainland on Saturday Mar. 30 after picking up a purely dominant victory over the Meraloma Rugby Club by a score of 82-5.
“The quick start for us today was the key to our success,” said Vikes head coach Doug Tate. “We attacked very well from several different parts of the field and really used our team speed to our advantage. Despite the score line, we felt fortunate for the amount of bounces that went our way. We also kept our penalty count down so a very good overall team performance.”
The win is the fourth in a row for Victoria who has a scoring average of just under 70-points per game during the streak. Victories over the Vancouver Rowing Club, Nanaimo Hornets, Westshore RFC and Meraloma has improved their record to 9-6 with just one regular season game remaining on the schedule.
Fifth-year scrum half Crosby Stewart scored three tries in the match and fly half Gradyn Bowd continued to slot his conversion attempts, tallying 11 on the day for a total of 22 points in the game. Jackson Matthews also touched the ball down twice for the Vikes who had a total of 11 players to get on the score sheet.
Unfortunately for the Vikes their late season surge likely won’t give them the opportunity to host a quarterfinal game at Wallace Field. It appears Victoria will either have to face the defending champions, the UBCOB Ravens or their cross-town rivals from Oak Bay, the Castaway Wanderers. Regardless of the matchup, the Vikes are quickly becoming a team that other clubs will want to avoid facing in the opening round of the playoffs.
Victoria will close out the regular season next weekend at home when they welcome the Seattle Saracens to Wallace Field on Saturday Apr. 6. Kick off is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.
SCORERS: Gradyn Bowd (11C), Crosby Stewart (3T), Jackson Matthews (2T), Ollie Nott (1T), Logan Martin-Feek (1T), Lockie Kratz (1T), Mostyn Findlay (1T), Ethan Hager (1T), Tyler Wong (1T), Gabe Casey (1T), Brennig Prevost (1T)
