December 7th, 2019 Victoria, BC (ISN) – The BC Rugby Union held their 2019 grade-age boy’s rugby championships Saturday at Westhills Stadium in Langford, BC. Six top BC boys’ teams in U15, U17, and U19 divisions competed for the opportunity to play against 2019’s best to claim the provincial club championship title.
With Rugby Canada’s training centre providing a fitting backdrop for some young, aspiring rugby talent, the championship day would put on display some potential future stars of Canadian Rugby. Victoria, a hotbed for young rugby talent, would see three local three teams vie for championship titles on the day.
Junior boys club teams ages U15 to U19 competed in their respective divisions for the chance to claim a BC Championship title. Posting two teams to the finals, James Bay would see their U15 and U17 squads dominate, hoisting the cup with dominating wins over Abbotsford RFC and Capilano RFC. The Castaway Wanderers, looking to complete the Victoria club sweep would enter the champions cup day with a strong U19 team, but fell to an even stronger Vancouver Barbarians squad that would cast aside any hopes of a Victoria sweep.
An undefeated James Bay’s U15 squad, despite lacking the luxury of reserve players fresh legs, would dominate their match against the visiting Abbotsford RFC, literally running away with the win with some impressive leg-work that would see the Bay’s side post a 20-5 halftime score on route to a lopsided 41-5 final.
The U17 James Bay side, with many returning players from last year’s team that fell just short of 2018 championship glory, looked to avenge last year’s loss with a victory Saturday against a “formidable” Capilano RFC team. A hard-fought first thirty-five minutes of play would see James Bay limit Capilano to a successful penalty kick, taking a 14-3 lead into halftime. James Bay would add their third try of the game early in the second half before Capilano would climb back into the match, scoring two unanswered trys 28 -17 to make a run at James Bay’s lead. Holding off a resilient Capilano side, James Bay would score a late try to seal the championship victory as James Bay would successfully go 2-2 on the day.
The final match of the day would pit the reigning U19 champion Castaway Wanderers against the Vancouver Barbarians. The Castaway Wanderers, champions for two years running, would look to make it a threepeat, but it would be the Barbarians turn to hoist the cup as they would dethrone the Castaway Wanderers with a dominating 42-7 performance to claim the title.