Ellerslie Rugby Park – The Bellerose Bulldogs completed a pitch perfect campaign as the division two champions in metro Edmonton high school men’s rugby.
“It’s so exciting, especially to go undefeated. It’s a great season,” said co-captain Ben Miller during the boisterous post-match celebration after the convincing 41-24 victory against the Jasper Place Rebels in Thursday’s final. “It means so much what we did as a team, especially for Bellerose rugby.”
The first men’s rugby banner for the Bulldogs since 2013 in the city conference, which was before the merger of the metro and Edmonton public leagues, was also the eighth overall since the formation of the metro league in 1988/89.
“It’s a great feeling to bring it back to Bellerose,” said Junior Manchester, a Grade 10 fullback who raced down the field for arguably the team’s most important try of the year to open the scoring in the seventh minute against the Rebels.
“Having Junior score that first try meant a lot,” said Miller, a standout eight-man who crossed the try line three times. “Obviously scoring first got us going. We knew then we’ve got this.”
With the Rebels pushing hard, the Bulldogs regained ball possession around their 22-metre line for Manchester to gobble up the yards with a lanky stride while weaving past the initial wave of tacklers for the try under the posts. The sure-footed Thomas Gibson split the uprights on the conversion.
“It was exhausting,” said Manchester of the majestic romp. “It means a lot to score like that, especially against a team as a great as JP.”
The Rebels, undefeated in five matches entering the big game, responded with two tries and the second was off a penalty play from inside the 22 that was converted to end the first quarter at 12-7.
A spirited pep talk by head coach Matt Herod lit a fire under the Bulldogs as the first half ended with Bellerose on top at 19-17 and after three quarters it was total Bellerose domination at 31-17.
“The first quarter we had a little dip were it didn’t go as good but then we got our second wind,” said Manchester, 16,
“We just had to slow down. We were getting a little bit worked up so we had to calm ourselves down and eventually we got our structure back and started working harder,” added Miller, 18, who played senior men’s rugby last year with the first and third division teams at St. Albert Rugby Football Club.
The first of three tries by inside-centre Christian Pulis was the piercing straight as an arrow run through the defensive line to score under the posts four minutes after the Rebels broke a 12-12 deadlock with their second try of the second quarter. Gibson’s conversion ended the first half.
“We kind of came out sloppy in the first quarter and that’s why we were trailing but everyone tightened up and got more intense,” Pulis said. “We ended up pulling away because we worked better as a team, better as a pack and better as a unit than them.”
The Bulldogs grabbed the game by the throat in the third quarter as Pulis scooped up a loose ball in front of the 22 and with nobody in his way dashed through the posts for the easy conversion by Gibson three minutes into the frame.
On the ensuing kick-off, Miller was an unstoppable raging bull roaring down the right side for his second try to extend the lead to 31-17.
“They had good defence and we had a few ups and downs but we managed to pull away with the win with a few extra tries,” said Manchester, whose dad, Chris, was a member of the first Bellerose championship rugby team in 1993 in the city conference.
Four minutes into the fourth quarter, and the outcome pretty much a done deal, the Rebels were yellow carded for a jersey-pulling horse collar tackle on Miller. The chippy play continued as both teams were keen on getting their licks in.
Pulis completed his hat-trick performance with five minutes remaining and the Rebels a man short because of the sin-bin infraction. The Grade 12 St. Albert High Skyhawk turned the corner for a lengthy gallop after the forwards presented the ball to the explosive gridiron running back.
“That one kind of reminded me of football. It was the same feeling as scoring a touchdown,” said Pulis, who was among a handful of St. Albert Catholic High School students on the Bellerose rugby team.
“These guys really put me under their wing all year so I really wanted to try and give back to them by doing my very best today,” said the first-year rugby player. “It’s great. I really like rugby. I’m not going to lie. It’s pretty fun.”
After the try, the referee red carded a Rebel for excessive chatter and Miller was quick to punish the shorthanded foes with his third score.
A converted try by the Rebels closed the book on the playoff showdown as the Bulldogs finished 6-0 (227 PF/117 PA), compared to the 5-1 Rebels (228 PF/115 PA).
“There was a lot of intensity. We had a lot of pressure on us to perform since we were undefeated and they were too so there was a lot of pressure both ways,” said Pulis, 17.
The Bulldogs stormed into the final after their second win of the season against the Paul Kane Blues (2-3, 107 PF/135 PA) in Tuesday’s 34-17 semifinal decision.
“We’ve been knocked out in semis the last couple of years and it’s really nice to get a shot at a championship,” Gibson said after the Bulldogs outscored Paul Kane 12-0 in the third quarter for the 27-7 advantage.
Miller’s three tries led the offensive charge. Manchester and Josh Lebrun of the Skyhawks also provided quality contributions in the entertaining affair that featured big hits and big runs.
“Paul Kane has an incredible defensive line and it showed throughout the game. They’ve got really good line speed but our boys exploited holes. We used plays that we’ve gone over and over and over again in practice,” said Gibson, a Grade 11 lock and co-captain who converted two tries and nailed the upright after Miller’s second try in the third quarter.
In league play, the Bulldogs defeated Paul Kane 25-10 May 10 in the sixth edition of the Gareth Jones Cup.
“We’ve been working on our defence since that last game and it was extremely better. That was our big focus (against Paul Kane), get our line speed matching theirs and we really executed that. That was the big difference for us,” said Gibson, 17.
Asked to explain the secret of the team’s success this season, Gibson replied: “We don’t get mad at each other. We support each other wholly. We respect each other and admire each other’s assets and we pick each other up when we’re down. We’re a brotherhood.”
