Several of the winning teams made emphatic statements Wednesday in the quarter-finals of the sa国际传媒 high school boys rugby championships at Rotary Stadium in Abbotsford.
In triple-A, the top-ranked Shawnigan Lake Stags raked the No. 8 Handsworth Royals from North Vancouver 58-3, No. 2 St. George鈥檚 Saints of Vancouver defeated No. 7 Robert Bateman of Abbotsford 43-11 and the No. 3 Yale Lions from Abbotsford blanked No. 11 Lord Tweedsmuir of Surrey 46-0.
鈥淚t was a solid performance,鈥� said Stags head coach Tim Murdy.
Shawnigan Lake is looking to avenge last year鈥檚 provincial tournament, when the Stags鈥� five-year run as sa国际传媒 champions was ended by a St. George鈥檚 rally in the final minutes of the 2014 final.
About his players looking too far ahead to the final, Murdy said: 鈥淭hat certainly is a danger, so we focus them on shorter-term goals we set for ourselves each game.鈥�
In the lone competitive quarter-final, No. 4 Earl Marriott from Surrey downed No. 5 Oak Bay 26-18.
鈥淚鈥檓 really proud of the guys. They played their hearts out,鈥� said Oak Bay head coach Murray Allen, whose squad led 15-14 at the half.
鈥淓arl Marriott is a strong team that just came back from the [world-level high school] Sanix Tournament in Japan. Every game we have against them is close but they got the better of us today in the late going.鈥�
Oak Bay is predominantly a Grade 11 team with people pointing to next year as a big one for the Barbs.
鈥淲e have a bit of youth, and it showed, but we will grow from this,鈥� said Allen.
That results set up a semifinal dance card today in Abbotsford which features Shawnigan Lake against Earl Marriott at 6:30 p.m., with Yale taking on St. George鈥檚 in the other bracket at 4:30 p.m.
鈥淓arl Marriott will be a handful. It is a well-coached, quality side,鈥� said Murdy, of the Stags鈥� task today.
Shawnigan Lake went 4-1 on a tour this year against school sides in New Zealand and Australia and has a recent alumni list that includes Guiseppe du Toit and Ollie Nott, who won silver with the Canadian U-20 team in the division for second-tier nations last weekend at the Junior World Cup in Portugal.
In double-A, No. 2 St. Michaels University School of Victoria smartly stated its case with a 74-0 victory over No. 7 Hugh McRoberts of Richmond, while top-ranked Rockridge of West Vancouver blasted No. 8 Brentwood College 53-0. Third-ranked Collingwood from West Vancouver dispatched No. 6 Glenlyon-Norfolk School from Victoria 41-7 while No. 4 South Kamloops defeated No. 5 Southridge of Surrey 35-17.
The double-A semifinals today will feature SMUS versus Collingwood at 3 p.m. and South Kamloops against Rockridge at 1:30.
The championship finals are Saturday, also in Abbotsford.
