The team to beat in today’s provincial final will defend its Labatt’s Cup against the surprising Calgary Saints.
The premier men’s rugby championship kicks off at 4:15 p.m. at Ellerslie Rugby Park and admission is $5.
“To cap off the season with another win would be incredible,” said prop Aaron Millard of the fantastic firsts at Thursday’s training session at the St. Albert Rugby Football Club. “All the boys seem pretty keen to go. The coaches have prepared us well up to this point. It should be a good game.”
The SARFC first 15 (13-2-1) are winners of nine in a row after a sketchy 27-all draw against the Saints in July at Calgary.
The Saints (8-7-1) finished fifth in the Alberta Cup premier table and in the south playoffs knocked off the Irish (11-4) and Hornets (11-5) for their first provincial berth since back-to-back championships in 2007/08.
“They upset the top two teams down there. I guess it was a shock so we can’t take them lightly,” said scrumhalf Lino Filisone. “They’ve got a few surprises and we just have to be ready for them.”
The firsts also beat the Saints 22-15 in August at SARFC.
“They’re a strong team. They’ve got a strong pack but we’ve really come together as a pack in the past few games so we have full confidence in our pack to dominate theirs and then leave it up to the backs, the fancy boys, to do the rest,” Millard said.
Discipline will play a major role in the outcome.
“In our past meetings the Saints scored the majority of their points on penalty kicks so our discipline and keeping the penalty count down is going to determine the game pretty much. Our defence is going to have to shut them down if we keep giving them points on penalties otherwise it could be a long day,” Millard said.
Filisone stressed the firsts have to worry about themselves instead of the Saints to be successful.
“We just have to stick to our game plan and have faith in our game plan. We’ve got to be aggressive with these guys because I know they’re not going to take it easy against us. We also have to finish off our set pieces,” said the New Zealand import.
The weather forecast is a scary combination of cold, rain and snow for the Big Game so a greasy pitch will pose problems for both teams.
“The weather is going to play a factor so it’s definitely going to be a forwards game,” Millard said.
Playing for provincial honours is a SARFC tradition that started in 2007, when there was no premier team and the second division men captured the Lor-Ann Cup.
The firsts are 2-4 in Labatt’s Cup finals, starting with the 24-10 loss to the Saints in 2008, and they won both championships in Calgary.
“There is not a lot of guys around still that won one or two so there is a lot of meaning to this game for sure,” said Millard, who experienced the first Labatt’s Cup in SARFC history in 2010. “We have one last game in the season and everything is going to be on the line. There are a lot of things in our favour but in rugby you never know. Any team can win on any given day.”
The firsts are coming off their third consecutive Ken Ann Cup triumph and the seventh in eight-straight trips to the north final.
“We got a good taste for that hardware and we like it,” Millard said.
The team’s character and unwavering will to win surfaced in the punishing 28-19 thriller over the rowdy Nor’Westers (8-7-1) in the north final and the controversial 29-11 semifinal decision against the Strathcona Druids (1-13-1) when the firsts played basically the last 50 minutes short two players to red cards.
“Those are the kind of games you learn from and move on,” said Filisone, 25. “Mentally you have to be prepared. Even the result against the Irish and the Hornets got a few of us thinking (the Saints) are coming out to play and we can’t take them lightly. It comes down to a mental thing and you have to be ready.”
Expectations are high for another epic SARFC celebration as the third division men’s team battles the Calgary Saracens at noon for its first Digby Dinnie provincial championship since 1997.
Last year the women’s second division team was crowned provincial champions.
“The club has come a long ways. It’s so successful it’s amazing,” said Millard, 31.
