The fantastic firsts spun their wheels after shifting gears before regaining traction in Saturday’s frantic finish in premier men’s rugby.
The reversal in direction started with 23 minutes to play and the firsts in front of their biggest rivals, the Clan, by a commanding 25 points after Aaron Weicker’s second try and the team’s seventh in the Alberta Cup match.
With the St. Albert side in cruise control, the Clan gained ground on the leaders to put themselves in position to score the go-ahead points with a converted try when Duncan Maguire stopped a runaway Clansman in his tracks in St. Albert territory and Jake Robinson swooped in to retrieve a free ball after the tackle during injury time in the 37-31 cliff-hanger.
“We put our foot on the gas for about the first 60 minutes and then we really took it off that last 20 but good on the Clan for taking advantage of that,” said Weicker, a speedster on wing, after the firsts breathed a huge sigh of relief over the outcome at the St. Albert Rugby Football Club.
The firsts pounded the Clan in the first half with five tries and one conversion to hold the upper hand at 27-6 at the break.
“We came out firing. We played the way we wanted to and then the last 20 minutes we kind of thought we had it and let it slip away almost but luckily the boys tightened it up in the last minute and we managed to sneak one away,” said Angus (Gus) MacDonald, a ruffian at tighthead prop. “When they get close like that, it’s six points and they’ve got a good kicker, it’s a little nerve-wracking especially when we’re taking all these penalties.”
Sam Townsend, the fourth head coach in four years for the three-time defending Labatt’s Cup provincial champions, voiced his opinion on the tale of two halfs in the post-game huddle.
“The standard we set was in the first half. Second half we took our foot off the gas. We looked at the scoreboard,” said the Englishman from Saint Albans, a city in Hertfordshire.
“Arrogance doesn’t help. Let’s be confident in everything we do but let’s not cross that border whatever we do,” Townsend added. “The performance (in the first half) is exactly what we’re looking for. Let’s keep pushing up and up.”
The premier lid-lifter for the firsts reinforced their swagger as the team to beat once again.
“At the beginning of the season during indoor training we talked about coming out firing and let everyone know we’re here to defend our title and that first win was kind of the first tick in the checklist on our way to October. It was mentally important and we’re really happy that we got it, we just would’ve liked it to be a little less close,” MacDonald said.
A fourth consecutive Labatt’s Cup would set a new record in the premier ranks.
“There is a lot of pressure on us as the defending champions but we just have to play our own game. We’re a great team but we still have to prove ourselves,” said Weicker of the first 15, qualifiers of eight provincial finals in nine years as the Ken Ann Cup north winners.
“We’re really setting an example for the rest season with this win. We want to come out hard and keep it going.”
Players come and go every year at SARFC but a strong group of veterans maintain that tradition of excellence by the firsts.
“It helps a lot that we have a lot of returning players in key positions. Having Jake Robinson (at scrumhalf) is huge and the same with (fullback) Duncan Maguire. Having Brett Kelly coming back (from injuries) is also huge. He’s an immense leader,” MacDonald said. “Although the coach might have changed, the core group of guys and the attitude around the club has stayed the same and it’s always about winning and keeping that camaraderie in the boys and having pints afterwards and getting some wins and that’s really what’s helped us win these last three (championships).”
Matt Jarvis opened the scoring against the Clan in the eighth minute as the firsts advanced past the halfway line for the first time in the match. Jarvis chased down a kick that handcuffed a Clan player and wheeled into the try area.
Five minutes later, Weicker’s try was converted by British import George Harding.
“It was a great pick from Lawrence Ross off of the scrum to Jake and he made a beautiful pop to me. I was on the outside and just closed it off,” Weicker said.
After a penalty kick by the Clan, the firsts crossed the try line on scores by Maguire (reached the corner of the try area while in the clutches of a defender), Orrin Farris (galloped unmolested with the ball after Isaac Foley blocked a kick inside the halfway line) and Robinson (opportunistic effort with Foley playing a big role on the play).
The half ended with a Clan penalty kick.
“At the start our scrums were a little shaky with the first couple and then we settled it down and we gave our backs a really good platform. There are a couple of tries where we just pulled them over in the forwards and that set the tone for the backs and they were able to run through and get some pretty looking tries out there,” said MacDonald, 29, a teacher at William D. Cuts School.
“We were really noticing the overlaps on the outside, recognizing the kick opportunities and cross field kicks, and that really helped us out there,” Weicker added.
The score was 27-9 when Jarvis finished off a series of passes with an outside burst eight minutes after the break for his second try.
The Clan replied with their fourth penalty kick and the firsts answered with Weicker reeling in a nifty Harding kick in full flight past the Clan’s 40-metre line like a wide receiver streaking down the gridiron hauling in a touchdown pass.
“I had no idea where the ball was even going so once I caught that it was just me on the fullback and I tried to step outside and broke out of that tackle and ran it in,” Weicker said of his fifth try of the season after his hat-trick performance for the third division team May 6 in the 48-29 victory over the Lep/Tigers at SARFC.
“It’s unreal, really. It’s an adrenaline rush to score on a play like that. Honestly, I didn’t hear the fans throughout the whole time but after I touched it down I could hear them.”
Down but not out at 37-12, the Clan caught lightning in a bottle with three tries and two conversions as the firsts struggled with their discipline and defensive responsibilities.
“It got quite a bit sloppy, which was surprising, but with that rain in the first half we had a lot of balls on the ground and it wasn’t really bouncing our way,” said Weicker, 24, a noted track runner in St. Albert before making an impact on the rugby pitch.
The next match is May 27 against the Canucks in Calgary.
SCRUM BALLS: The thirds equalled last year’s win total by going 2-0 this season after beating the Clan 33-26 Friday at Ellerslie Rugby Park.
After an even first half, the thirds stumbled in the third quarter before pulling off the victory as the relatively young lineup took advantage of a Clan team that ran out of gas.
Travis Brenneis led the way with two tries, including a key score late in the match.
Alex Cherniwchan, Austin Mazzolini-Flynn, Robert Blunden and Aaron Fleming were among several thirds that shone bright.
The thirds are in Edson on May 27 for a date with the Axmen.
