James Bay to the rescue.
Two players from the historic Victoria rugby club made decisive contributions as sa国际传媒 opened the Pacific Nations Cup with a grimly-fought 16-9 victory Saturday over the U.S. amid cool, rainy and muddy conditions in Edmonton.
John Moonlight scored the lone try and Connor Braid kicked three penalty goals and a convert to account for sa国际传媒鈥檚 scoring.
It was good for sa国际传媒 that Braid played better than he practised.
鈥淚 missed 80 per cent of my kicks in warm-up. Luckily, I stuck with my routine and put a few over and through in the game,鈥� said the Oak Bay High grad, by phone from Edmonton.
鈥淭he conditions were not great. The wind took the ball on some kicks. And the ball was skipping off the ground. It was a wet ball on a windy day and we needed to play smart rugby 鈥� which we did by playing in the right areas and we came away with a win.鈥�
On a day with such tricky footing, the foot itself became crucial in the form of the tactical kicking game.
While Braid kicked for 11 points, fellow Oak Bay-grad and James Bay teammate Sean White kicked well for position for sa国际传媒 from the starting scrum-half position.
鈥淲e set the tone in the opening 10 minutes by kicking the ball behind the Americans,鈥� said World Cup-veteran White.
鈥淚 was lucky to have a good day. And Connor did a great job of kicking to the corners. Plus Connor's goal-kicking was also superb. He made three-of-four penalty kicks. If we get that kind of percentage throughout the summer in this tournament, we're going to be tough to beat.鈥�
sa国际传媒鈥檚 next Pacific Nations Cup game is June 5 against Fiji in Ottawa, followed by fixtures June 8 against Tonga in Kingston, Ont., and June 19 against Japan in Nagoya.
Interspersed is a Test match June 15 against Ireland at BMO Field in Toronto.
The Langford-based national team is hoping Saturday鈥檚 result was a harbinger. sa国际传媒's Test summer concludes with two total-point 2015 World Cup qualifying matches against the Americans on Aug. 17 in Charleston, South Carolina, and Aug. 24 at BMO Field.
