The Gareth Jones Cup symbolized how far female rugby has evolved in St. Albert regardless of Friday’s score between the Bellerose Bulldogs and Paul Kane Blues.
“Growing up there was no place for my sisters on the rugby field. As women, we didn’t belong. However, I’m thrilled to see this go full circle today standing here awarding you the Gareth Jones Cup,” said Penny Jones, the daughter of the trophy’s namesake, during the post-match presentation at St. Albert Rugby Football Club with both teams standing on the touchline in front of the clubhouse deck filled with spectators.
Gareth Jones is the beloved Godfather of St. Albert rugby who died Dec. 31, 2017 at the age of 78.
Jones, one of the Nervous Nine founding members of SARFC and its first president, also coached Paul Kane’s first rugby team in 1980.
“Rugby has come far over the years and I believe it would not be where it is today if not for my dad, Gareth Jones,” Penny said. “He and Roger Scott worked tirelessly back in the day to get the boys interested, hoping they would show up for practice and in the beginning not many did. However, the dedication and love for the game was contagious as so many became involved.”
Jones was inducted into the Alberta Rugby Hall of Fame in 2005 and last year he joined Scott as the first SARFC members to achieve status in the Edmonton Rugby Union Hall of Fame.
“My entire life I saw my dad’s passion for rugby. He had an amazing ability to bring youth together in the sport,” Penny said. “He was able to understand what it meant to be a team player, a team leader on and off the field. His spirit for rugby shone through regardless of the capacity of his involvement. He was very touched when this cup was donated in his name.”
The inaugural Gareth Jones Cup was contested at the 2012 St. Albert high schools’ tournament and Bellerose was the male and female winner.
This year marked the sixth edition for the men – 25-10 for Bellerose over Paul Kane in a metro Edmonton division two league match – and the third edition for the women and the first since the Blues beat the Bulldogs 30-5 in the 2016 division one league match.
As for high school women’s rugby in St. Albert, Penny noted that Daryl Newstead was the first coach “of a combined Bellerose and Paul Kane women's rugby team back in 94,” and one season later "there was enough interest for the teams to split, forming the lady Blues and the lady Bulldogs. A strong rivalry developed between the two that we continue to witness today for both the women and men’s teams, hence the battle for the Gareth Jones Cup,” said Penny, with Jones’ great-granddaughter, Molly, a young age-group rugby player and family members in attendance for the match.
“Congratulations to both teams for your competitive spirit and excellent rugby skills. Well done ladies.”
The 94-7 result for Bulldogs was obvious extra special for the winners.
“It means a lot for us to win because this isn’t just a game, it's for the cup,” said co-captain Georgia Daykin. “We wanted to play this game for quite a few months.”
The exhibition was staged two weeks after the metro Edmonton season ended for both teams.
Bellerose finished 6-1 (305 PF/106 PA) as a division one semifinalist after the 55-27 loss to the Bev Facey Falcons on May 28.
Paul Kane was 5-2 (166 PF/161 PA) as the division two finalist and both loses were against the undefeated Harry Ainlay Titans: 62-7 in league play and 27-12 in the May 31 final.
Paul Kane was missing several players that saw action in division two final, including five Grade 12s, and it showed against a pumped-up Bellerose squad that never took the foot off the gas while posting leads of 15-0 after the first quarter, 40-0 at halftime and 67-0 after three quarters, en route to 18 tries and two conversions. Another two conversions kicks hit posts.
A couple of belligerent incidents involving players from both squads late in the fourth quarter forced Paul Kane head coach Marty McKeever to gather his team in the try area during a stoppage in play to calm his team down.
The match was also refereed by Thomas Gibson, a Grade 11 player for this year’s division two men's champion Bulldogs and a certified rugby official who showed no obvious favoritism towards the more aggressive Bellerose side even though the mercy whistle should've been blown early in the fourth quarter.
Were the Bulldogs surprised by the lopsided score?
“I’m happy that we beat them by a large margin but both teams did play extremely well and I’m proud of both teams,” said Daykin, 17, a Grade 12 standoff.
When asked if the victory took the sting away from losing to Facey – the Bulldogs allowed only 51 points against in six wins before the season ender and one of the victories was 15-10 against Facey, who went on to win its seventh consecutive division one banner – Daykin replied: “No, it doesn’t take the sting away but there was no sting. It was a game and both teams played as best as they could. We lost. Every team loses eventually, it’s just a shame that was our loss but this is definitely a game that will live in Bellerose history and in our hearts for a long time.”
Paul Kane struggled with its emotions as tears flooded the pitch after the cup presentation but McKeever maintained a stiff upper lip.
“I’m proud of my girls for sticking it out and fighting hard right to the end in a very one-sided affair. They could've easily just given up but they didn't and that’s a measure of grit and character,” McKeever said. “They represented PK with class and dignity.”
Down by 67 points, Paul Kane prevented a shutout with a converted try as Abbey Borschneck drove the ball over the line with a short run three minutes into the last quarter.
“It meant everything to score that try,” said the Grade 11 prop. “I just wanted to try my best and see what happened. It felt really good to break through.”
Paul Kane was forced to field a less experienced lineup than the one that gave Ainlay a strong showing in the division two final – only three Grade 12s were available for the exhibition and some other veterans were also absent.
“We tried hard but (McKeever) always taught us you can only control your game, right. You can’t control theirs,” Borschneck, 16.
But it wasn’t all doom and gloom despite the score.
“The one thing we were excited about was playing on the first pitch,” Borschneck said. “That was so exciting.”
