There is an old rugby adage about the importance of both club and country.
While several of the James Bay Athletic Association and Castaway Wanderers key players were a continent away Saturday helping the national team advance to the quarter-finals of the Glasgow Sevens 鈥� assuring sa国际传媒 crucial IRB core status through 2014 as the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics loom 鈥� the Bays and CW were busy on the provincial home front.
James Bay (11-4) took down Capilano (10-5) in a heart-racing 34-27 overtime victory in a sa国际传媒 Premier League playoff semifinal at Macdonald Park and advanced the 2013 Rounsefell Cup final next Saturday at UVic鈥檚 Wallace Field.
The Bays, stalking a record 23rd sa国际传媒 title since 1925 but first since 2008, will meet emerging Burnaby Lake (11-4), who denied an all-Island final by downing CW 26-10 in the other semifinal played in Burnaby.
鈥淥ur roster was stretched to the max,鈥� said James Bay head coach Peter Rushton, who was missing Tyler Ardron, Jeff Hassler and John Moonlight to the Canadian sevens in Glasgow.
鈥淏ut we gutted it out this season to get home-field advantage for the playoffs and that proved a pretty significant factor today,鈥� added Rushton, who pointed to the key role played Saturday by young fill-ins Range Slavica and Mitch Bancroft.
The Bays avenged the one-point loss to the Caps in last year鈥檚 Rounsefell Cup sa国际传媒 championship games. But payback was not the main motivation for a generally veteran JBAA group that includes 2007 Canadian team World Cup captain Morgan Williams, fellow-capped sa国际传媒 internationals Jeff Williams and David Moonlight, Neil Meechan and captain Spencer Dalziel.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a factor but not the main one,鈥� said James Bay head coach Peter Rushton.
鈥淲e haven鈥檛 forgotten what happened last year but this was a new year. We have experienced guys who [understood] the importance of the game. They know how to prepare themselves and don鈥檛 need any rah-rah from me. They鈥檝e all been around and all played in big games.鈥�
The Caps will have to be content, at least until next season, with their three Rounsefell Cup titles from 2004, 2005 and 2012 that go with five previous won as North Shore from 1933 to 1955.
CW has four Rounsefell Cup championships 鈥� coming in 2011 and three consecutive from 2000 to 2002 鈥� while Burnaby Lake has never won the Cup but seems the trendy pick this season among many experts.
CW did well just to make this year鈥檚 playoffs after looking like road kill just two months ago. The Oak Bay-based club (7-7-1) went off on a breathless late-season rally to win five of its last seven games to squeeze in as the fourth seed. But the glass slipper was wrenched off Saturday by the Lakers in Burnaby.
Meanwhile, in the IRB sevens tournament in Glasgow, sa国际传媒 defeated Samoa 19-17 and Kenya 21-10 Saturday before dropping a tight 17-14 decision to South Africa in advancing to a quarter-final date today against defending world champion Wales.
Representing sa国际传媒 in Glasgow from Island teams are Ardron, Hassler and John Moonlight of James Bay, Nanyak Dala and Ciaran Hearn of CW and Phil Mack, Sean Duke and Nathan Hirayama of the University of Victoria Vikes.
The Caps contributed Harry Jones, who would have come in handy Saturday at Macdonald Park. The other Canadians players are Taylor Paris of Barrie, Ont., Conor Trainor of Vancouver and former CW star Chauncey O鈥橳oole.
