The fantastic firsts are on a collision course with the Nor'Westers on the road to a provincial three-peat.
The Ken Ann Cup north final in the Alberta Cup playoffs is a rematch of last year's titanic tussle between the St. Albert Rugby Football Club premier men – the reigning provincial champions– and the surging Nor'Westers.
Saturday's kick-off is 5 p.m. at Ellerslie Rugby Park.
"We're going to come out and play really confidently," said flanker Orrin Farries, after the firsts waltzed past the Clan 52-19 in last weekend's semifinal at SARFC.
The fourth consecutive win was the 10th in 12 matches for the second-place finishers behind the undefeated Calgary Hornets in the Alberta Cup table.
The third-place Nor'Westers are rolling at 8-4 after polishing off the Strathcona Druids 42-10 in the playoffs for their seventh win in eight matches.
"The league standings don't matter. These three games – the one we had today, next week (against the Nor'Westers) and the week after that (provincial final)– that's what we play rugby for our whole summer. All those other games are fun, they're good and you sharpen your skills, but it all comes down to playoff rugby," Farries said.
The season series between the provincial contenders was a saw-off. The firsts won the May 14 league opener 50-35 at the home of the Nor'Westers and lost 38-36 in a wild affair Aug. 6 at SARFC. A dramatic converted try by the Nor'Westers on the last play of the match tied the bow on the 14-point comeback with around 10 minutes remaining after the firsts willed their way back from a 17-point halftime deficit with 29 unanswered points to lead by 12.
"They have to know that when they beat us we definitely let off the gas hard in those last 10 minutes and they've got to know that we're not going to come at it with the same attitude," Farries said. "We have to keep the foot on the pedal for the whole 80 minutes and then at the end of 80 minutes the better team is going to be the one with the better outcome."
Last year's Ken Ann Cup was decided on Khaleb Whitehurst's highlight reel try off a rainbow kick by Luke (Aussie) Richardson for field position in the 69th minute, and the firsts protecting a slim two-point lead.
The 28-19 triumph marked the third Ken Ann Cup in a row and the seventh in eight-straight trips to the north final and a victory Saturday would propel the firsts into the Labatt's Cup hurrah against the south playoff winner Oct. 1 at Calgary Rugby Park.
A three-peat would also equal the three in a row by the 2011-13 Hornets and the fourth Labatt's Cup for the firsts since 2010.
"It would be special but there is a big task at hand next Saturday and then there's another big task at hand the Saturday following if we are to get there," Farries said. "We just have to take it one step at a time and if it comes then we'll be able to relish it that much more."
The firsts shredded the Clan (3-9) for six tries and five conversions in the opening 40 minutes for an overwhelming 40-5 advantage at the break.
The rout started with A.J. King's try off a Mitch Millet block in the seventh minute.
Antony Fitch, Duncan Maguire and Josh Oden were too fast to stop before the Clan got on the board in the 32nd minute to trail 28-5.
Tries by Robert Blunden off a penalty play and the super-fast Maguire closed out the first half.
Two minutes after the break, Jake Robinson scored off a penalty play after a run by King and Fitch booted his sixth conversion.
The eighth and last try of the blowout by the firsts was scored with five minutes remaining.
"We came out hard and strong and played our style of rugby and didn't give up," said Farries, 22. "(In the second half) we started making changes knowing that we're going to have different match-ups coming up with the Nor'Westers next week and the Hornets after that so we we're definitely testing out a bunch of different lineups but our continuity was still pretty good throughout the entire game.
"If we play our defence the way we can, the only way the other teams score is when guys like Mike Adibe from the Clan make those steps and do something magical, other than that our defence contained all forms of basic structural rugby today."
Women's playoff
The division one women lost their Edmonton Rugby Union semifinal in heart-breaking fashion, as the Clan roared back from 36-13 deficit in the second half to win 37-36 Saturday at SARFC.
At halftime it was 24-13 for the SARFC ladies.
MacKenzie Doughty's try and Kendall Dewitt's conversion three minutes after the break was followed five minutes later by Emily Dewitt's slick run to widen the gap to 36-13.
The Clan responded with two converted tries six minutes apart with 21 minutes remaining.
The Clan continued to pour on the pressure with SARFC on its back heel defending the try line and in the 30th minute the visitors scored again to trail by four.
With three minutes to play, the Clan scored the go-ahead try off a deep penalty play to complete the comeback.
In the third minute of the match, the first of two tries by Mckenzie Pusch and Kendall's conversion was followed four minutes later by a yellow card to Emily, Kendall's twin sister. The Clan responded with a converted try with Emily in the sin-bin.
SARFC was back at full strength when the Clan converted a penalty and the home team answered with Doughty's try off a Pusch set-up.
Pusch would later make it 17-10, followed by Michelle Marler's long scoring run and Kendall's conversion.
The Clan ended the first half with a penalty kick.
The loss was the third in four matches against the Clan as SARFC finished 9-4 on the season. Previous results against the Clan (9-4) were the 31-19 win June 29 at home and losses of 59-12 July 23 and 57-31 Aug. 13 at Airways Park.
