The fantastic firsts put the D back in defence to defeat the Clan in Saturday's home debut in premier men's rugby.
The Labatt's Cup provincial champions the last two years defended their try area like demons after a leaky effort in the 28-24 loss to the Calgary Hornets (4-0) May 28 in the Alberta Cup fixtures.
"We put much more emphasis on defence and they didn't score any tries," said standoff Andy (Pinky) Kelleher after the 24-9 result in the rain and wind at the St. Albert Rugby Football Club.
"When we played the Hornets we kind of got sloppy. We didn't think we had to worry about it but we came into this game thinking defence is the most important thing. That's something we probably didn't work enough on before the Hornets' game and then we worked on it more for this game."
The Clan (2-1) kicked three penalties in the first half and the last boot split the uprights in the 27th minute to put the visitors on top 9-5.
"We turned a few wrongs into rights," said head coach Si Culley in the post-game huddle, referring to the Calgary incident with the Hornets, a disappointing loss on several levels for the firsts (2-1).
Fullback Antony Fitch was the finisher on tries in the 11th minute for a brief 5-3 lead and with three minutes left until halftime and the conversion by Kelleher made it 12-9.
Wily winger Duncan Maguire, the Golden Boy of the backs with Canada caps with the national sevens and 15 teams, tied the bow on the victory with his second try after the break in the 65th minute.
The firsts hung onto the ball longer in phase play as the weather worsened to start the second half.
"We definitely had to attack better and attack more direct," said Kelleher.
His fingerprints were all over the slick ball on both tries by Maguire and the firsts driving the field with purpose. The Irish import from the Cashel RFC used the dangerous Adam Bontus as a decoy before hitting Maguire in full stride with a looping pass from outside the 22-metre line with about 20 minutes to go and his conversion put the firsts up by 10.
"It was just a quick call to me just know (Maguire) was going to be there and we made that switch," Kelleher said of the scoring play. "It was huge. The moment he scored that try it kind of sucked the life out of them and it really gave us a boost to finish off the game."
The firsts closed out the win a man short for the last eight minutes after Johnny Moloney, a mountain of a man in the forwards, was sentenced to the sin-bin for breaking a law, although nobody is sure which law it was. The happy-go-lucky Irishman was a second-half replacement in his first match with the firsts since the 2014 provincial final.
Culley was impressed how the firsts fought the good fight against the elements and their longtime enemy.
"To play in these conditions against a team that is very tough to play against and still score four tries shows what we can do with our physicality, direction and teamwork," Culley said. "When we moved the ball it was good because we're breaking the game open. The first half we tried to force our ball position and in the second half there was so much more going forward so I'm really pleased."
The victory was the seventh in a row against the Clan after the firsts lost the 2013 season opener to their bitter foes.
"You could tell it was a huge game. We've been training all week and the guys were always referencing that we're playing the Clan and they're the biggest rivals in Edmonton," said Kelleher of his SARFC introduction to the Clan. "It's nice to come to a game where you're sensing from the crowd a bit of bitterness towards each other and it really helps the rugby a little bit. Afterwards, we'll have a beer together but during the game you can see it tends to be a bit more aggressive and a bit more harder to play."
Kelleher, 24, has been a solid addition to the first 15 upon his arrival at SARFC through his connection with Moloney.
"I have a friend who is good friends with Johnny and I said, 'Geez, I would like to go over and see what it's like. Johnny said, 'Listen, there is no other club you want to play for than St. Albert when you come over here," said the commerce graduate from Cashel, County Tipperary. "When you meet local guys like Duncan, who played for Canada, and Jake (Robinson at scrumhalf) too, who's been to Canada camps, it really kind of draws you in. You really want to play for a club where they have such high standards."
The next match is Saturday versus the Calgary Saints (1-1) at 11 a.m. at the Calgary Irish Rugby Football Club.
Last year the firsts crushed the Saints 40-12 for their third provincial crown in six years.
"Let's start next week how we finished today with that aggression, that physicality and cleaning out that breakdown area," Culley told the players. "We have loads more to build on. We can still clean up our attacking play."
SARFC women
The first division women's team in the Edmonton Rugby Union rebounded sharply from their first loss of the season with a convincing 36-0 decision against Crude/West (0-3) Saturday at Ellerslie Rugby Park.
The 4 p.m. start time was pushed back 30 minutes for the rain to clear and the late kick-off didn't stop SARFC from tacking up 19 points in the first half and six tries overall.
McKenzie Pusch scored twice and Kolby Kruger, Emily Oor, Sarah Garner and captain Sabrina Kelly also crossed the try line. Emily Dewitt kicked three conversions.
"It was a great performance by the ladies. It was much improved from last week," said head coach Byron Elliott of the 32-21 loss to the host Pirates (2-0). "The ladies improved areas in defensive pressure and at the breakdown, allowing us for much of the game to play on the front foot."
Last month SARFC defeated Crude/West 29-25 at the Nor'Westers Rugby Park.
SARFC has a road trip to Grande Prairie scheduled next Saturday to play the Sirens (0-2) at 2 p.m.
SCRUM BALLS: The SARFC third division men visit the Lep/Tigers (2-1) Saturday in ERU action at 2 p.m.
The third are 0-3, with a five-point penalty for a default match against the Lloydminster Reapers (3-1) last month in the Border City.
The 2015 winners of the Visser Cup championship in the ERU and Digby Dinnie Cup at provincials are coming off a 22-5 loss to the host Pirates (4-1) and last year's ERU finalists.
Meanwhile, the lucky winner of an autographed Team Canada jersey, raffled off by the U21 SARFC Dolphins at Saturday's premier match, was Lance Taylor.
