After three straight losses to open the season, the premier men’s first 15 appear to have turned the corner.
The firsts rattled off their fourth straight win in Alberta Cup action at home on Saturday afternoon, crushing the Lep-Tigers 51-5 at Leading Edge Field.
Head coach Chal Smyth said the players had plenty to be proud of after the game.
“Things are starting to come around,” he said. “We’re still a couple of guys short, but the guys who filled in for guys that are injured or not available really stepped up and showed they wanted to be counted. This was probably one of the best performances we’ve had in the four years I’ve been here.”
St. Albert got out to a fast start, catching a lucky break when the opening kickoff sailed out of bounds, resulting in a lineout deep in the Lep-Tigers’ half. They gained possession off that lineout and, after a series of rucks, got the ball to fullback Karim Lynch, who crossed the try line.
Winger Duncan McGuire, who had three tries in the second half, said the fast start was integral to the win.
“We had the momentum right away, which we wanted. Coming in, you want the momentum,” he said. “Everyone played really well. I wouldn’t say anyone played better than another person — it was a team effort.”
Scrum-half Jake Robinson converted penalty kicks in the 11th and 39th minutes, and import outside centre Chris Ealey and winger Matt Jarvis added tries in the first half to give St. Albert a 25-0 lead at the half.
McGuire came out running after the break, scoring the first of his three tries just five minutes after the restart. On his second, the Lep-Tigers were threatening deep in St. Albert territory, but McGuire scooped up a loose ball near his own goal line and, with only one defender to beat, scampered down the right side.
“When I saw it pop loose … their 15 was coming across and he’s really talented. I saw him coming across and I was either going to go for the corner or cut back in,” he said. “Their back line on defence, they’re really good at shifting over, so it left me no space so the only chance I had was to go for the corner.”
The Lep-Tigers got on the board with their only try in the 61st minute, but McGuire answered right back, again using his speed up the right side to chase down a kick and cross the try line.
Lynch added his second try of the day on the last play of the game.
While the offence was clicking on all cylinders, St. Albert also played tight defence by making a high percentage of their tackles, which made life a lot easier.
“Our centres were doing a good job of stepping up and isolating them,” McGuire said.
This was the first game for St. Albert’s premier men in about two weeks, and Smyth said the break came at the right time, allowing some players the chance to recover from injuries and new imports to settle in.
“I think it gave us an opportunity … to fix the problems we had in games previous and get our game plan together, work on the skills we need to work on to make us succeed,” he said.
“We had some quality training sessions last week and I think we have a solid 15,” McGuire added.
The premiers hit the road Saturday to take on the Calgary Canadian Irish Athletic Club at 3:30 p.m. Smyth said, that while they could savour the weekend victory, they’ll need to refocus quickly.
“[The Irish] are another big, tough team that we need to beat,” he said. “A lot of these teams we’re playing now are ahead of us and we need to come out with a game plan that’s going to get us another W.”
