A tradition of excellence continued for the fantastic firsts against the Darth Vaders of premier men's rugby.
The fifth victory in a row against the notorious Clansmen was a punishing 55-21 performance Saturday in front of hundreds of sun-soaked spectators at the St. Albert Rugby Football Club.
"To win our first game at home, and against the Clan no less, that to me is a victory within a victory. That to me is winning the cup right there," declared vice-captain Antony Fitch after the defending Labatt's Cup champions improved to 3-1 in the Alberta Cup table.
Lucas Albornoz, one of seven newcomers in the starting first 15 lineup, embraced the rivalry by pounding the winless Clan for three tries, including a pair before the fifth-minute mark.
"Everybody likes to beat the Clan. It's pressure but it's beautiful pressure because they're a very good enemy," said Albornoz, a prized addition to the firsts from the Castaway Wanderers in Victoria. "Everyone was talking about this game and even in training everyone was focused on beating the Clan. You could tell it was an important game."
It was close until the opening kickoff, when firsts ran under Fitch's boot in front of the 22-metre line with Australian import Khaleb Whitehurst and player/coach Clay Panga leading the charge and Albornoz finished off the lightning-quick strike before the match was barely 50 seconds old.
Albornoz's second try was ignited by scrumhalf Lino Filisione, an import from New Zealand, who stepped out of a tackle behind the half-way line and raced down the touchline before offloading the ball to Panga and his rainbow-style pass was hauled in by the man of the match without breaking stride from the five-metre line for the team's second converted try.
Albornoz's hat-trick try in the 35th minute was another workmanlike effort by the firsts and Fitch's third conversion turned it into a rout at 26-7.
"All of them are team tries. I didn't really do that much," said the modest Albornoz, an eight-man who was slotted at flanker.
Joshua Oden, a winger from the Velox RFC on Vancouver Island, closed out the first half with his second try and Fitch's conversion pretty much sealed the deal against the hapless Clan at 33-7.
"It was key to get a few points on the board straight away and it kind of showed in the end result," said Fitch, who started at standoff but made a seamless transition to scrumhalf when Filisione left the match after Oden's first try in the 10th minute with an ankle injury.
"It was pivotal that we had a fast start but we kind of slipped away from that and I think it showed in the middle 20 or 30 minutes (when the Clan scored a converted try). It was a bit scrappy there but then we got back to our game plan."
Fitch, 21, capped off a successful lineout ball by the firsts deep in Clan territory after a kick for touch on a penalty with a clever dummy pass before diving over the try line in the 53rd minute and Chad Monai-Brophy kicked the conversion.
A few minutes later a shoulder injury forced Fitch to leave the match and Monai-Brophy took over at scrumhalf.
After a try by the impressive Whitehurst in the 65th minute the Clan strung together two converted tries but trailed by 24 points.
The blowout wound down with Monai-Brophy's penalty kick and his conversion on Teigan White's game-ending try. White, who subbed on in the second half at second row, is the son of Eric White, an original SARFC/Paul Kane player. The younger White plays for James Bay on Vancouver Island with Liam Beaulieu, a bearded prop who started against the Clan.
"Towards the end of the game we had lot of boys playing out of position so hats off to you; you really stuck it to those boys for the 80 minutes which is really good," said coach Simon Hill in the post-game huddle.
Junior-age standouts Aidan Zalasky in the backs and Nathan Yue at front row also saw action in the second half as the firsts emptied their bench.
"It was a huge positive for me seeing all the young guys come in and step up. It was great stuff," said Panga to a round of applause by the players.
The firsts are slowly edging closer to a complete 80-minute effort that eluded them in the previous weekend's monumental 24-19 decision over the Calgary Hornets in the Cow Town.
"We came in today and played really good in some moments and then we fell off so we need to fix it up because tough teams will take advantage of that like last weekend. In the first half we made 24 points and they made 19 in the second half," said Albornoz, 24,
The opening 40 minutes against the Hornets (2-1) is the measuring stick for future matches.
"For me the best we've played was the first half of the Hornets. We played a really, really good team and if we can played like that first half for the rest of this season we can beat whatever team we play. We played very good with the hands and we were running hard and we moved really good with the ball," said Albornoz, who was born in Vancouver and has duel Canadian-Argentinean citizenship.
SARFC is now his second rugby home after developing his rugby skills with Club Atletico Estudiantes while growing up in Argentina.
"It's a beautiful family here. I love it," said Albornoz, an Argentina standout at the U18 and U19 levels who also played a season in New Zealand.
Super Saturday
The firsts will now prepare for the Nor'Westers (1-2) during Saturday's grand re-opening and 30th anniversary, to the month, of the SARFC fields. Kick-off is 4:30 p.m.
The festivities start at 8 a.m. with a junior rugby pancake breakfast, followed by the Edmonton Rugby Union junior festival with U7, U9 and U11 games from 9:30 to 10:20 a.m., U5 from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m., U13 and U15 boys from 10:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. and U13 and U15 girls from noon to 1:30 p.m.
The ceremonies begin at 2:50 p.m. and will feature all youth and adult male and female SARFC players in their kits, Edmonton Police Service Pipes and Drums Band, members of the RCMP, a parade of flags, a variety of dignitaries and remarks on the legacy and future of SARFC by president Sean LeLacheur.
Matches are also scheduled for 12:30 p.m. between the third division men and Parkland Sharks and 1 p.m. between the SARFC women and Crude/West.
SARFC is providing additional seating and expanded food and beverage services for the event but there is no parking at the club except for vehicles with disability parking permits.
"It's going to be a great day for the club and all of St. Albert. It will bring in young crowds because there is a youth tournament going on too. It will also help bring in a bit more recognition for rugby and one of the things we're trying to do here is promote rugby in St. Albert," Fitch said.
