Membership may have its privileges in the credit-card game. But being the home of sa国际传媒鈥檚 national team programs has its advantages in the game of rugby on the Island.
Taking advantage of a soft spot in the international calendar, several national team players were back with their clubs Saturday as the sa国际传媒 Premier League brought the curtain down on the regular season and filled out its playoff dance card.
鈥淭hese guys are so athletic and impressive,鈥� said James Bay head coach Pete Rushton.
Tyler Ardron and John Moonlight, respectively named top Canadian XVs and sevens players of the year, helped lead the second-place Bays (10-4) to a 57-24 dismantling of the UVic Vikes (5-8-1) at Macdonald Park.
The Castaway Wanderers (7-6-1) 鈥� whose Oak Bay program includes the likes of Ciaran Hearn and Nanyak Dala who will join Ardron and Moonlight on the Canadian team at the IRB Glasgow and London sevens tournaments early next month 鈥� defeated the Meralomas 26-10 in Vancouver to leap-frog the 鈥橪omas (7-7) into the fourth and final playoff slot.
Burnaby Lake (10-4), which controlled all tiebreakers against James Bay, blitzed last-place Bayside Sharks of Surrey 76-5 to hoist the regular-season mantle. Capilano also finished 10-4 but was third on tiebreakers.
Semifinal Saturday is May 4 with Capilano at Macdonald Park to play James Bay while the Castaway Wanderers are away to Burnaby Lake.
Because of the annual rotation system, if either the Bays or CW make it to the sa国际传媒 Rounsefell Cup championship game, it will be held May 11 at UVic鈥檚 Wallace Field. If it鈥檚 a Burnaby Lake-Caps final, the game will be played in Burnaby.
UVic, meanwhile, had little to play for Saturday and did the national sevens team a favour by resting Vikes internationals Sean Duke, Nathan Hirayama and Phil Mack ahead of the IRB Glasgow and London tournaments.
James Bay had no such luxury as it was looking to protect second place and home-field for the semifinals.
But club and country can take a wearing toll on the body as some of these players now play 12 months of the year domestically and internationally.
鈥淭here are times when you get tired but we have a great national-team medical staff that keeps us in tune and good to go,鈥� said Moonlight, who led James Bay with three tries Saturday, as the victory also gave the Bays the 102nd Barnard Cup for Island supremacy and the annual Ian Stewart Vikes-Bays Challenge Cup.
James Bay鈥檚 Ardron 鈥� touted for both the 2015 World Cup and 2016 Rio Summer Olympics 鈥� is a rising impact player for sa国际传媒 in XVs and sevens and plays a frenetic number of games throughout the year.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the opposite of having to keep your fitness up. It鈥檚 now more about staying healthy鈥� he said.
鈥淥ur coaches stay on top of it and are pretty smart about it.鈥�
