The premier women’s team at St. Albert Rugby Football Club kicked off its second season with a moral victory.
Despite only 17 players available for game day, SARFC battled the heavily fortified Calgary Irish tooth and nail in the 29-22 loss.
“I’m exceptionally proud of the girls,” said an upbeat George Harding, the first-year head coach of the SARFC women’s program. “Thirteen of our girls played 80 minutes and we lost by only seven points but we really brought it to Calgary Irish and if we had a little more better execution of our skill set in the final 22 (metres to the try area) I believe we would’ve won that game.
“One of the things we talked about a lot is judging ourselves in the process and the girls did everything that were asked of them so there is no disappoint from us in that regard.”
The Irish started off the Alberta premier fixtures with two lopsided results – 94-5 with 16 tries against the Nor’Westers and the 72-12 mishap with 12 tries by the Calgary Hornets (2-1) – while SARFC was finalizing the starting 15 for its home debut.
“It’s our first game so we’re kind of getting our footing still and almost everyone is in a new position but we played very well for a brand new set of girls coming together,” said Brie Gray, the starting standoff who normally plays in the centres. “It was so positive. No one got down on each other.”
SARFC was on the receiving end of the opening kick-off and less than a minute later the Irish scored the first of their five tries.
Nine minutes later, SARFC ended an intense drive with the first of two tries by Scottish import Katie Dougan and Kendall Dewitt kicked the conversion.
“The first five minutes we were a little nervous but we got the nerves out right after they scored and we turned it on,” Gray said. “We realized we can compete, we can do this and we’re not the underdog. It’s an even playing field.”
SARFC continued to grind out the yards deep in Irish territory when the ball switched hands and the visitors broke loose for a long run that was stopped by a try-saving tackle by captain Michelle Marler in front of the 22. The Irish eventually scored in the 17th minute to make it 10-7.
SARFC answered with a strong push-back capped off by MacKenzie Doughty after the ball was swung left for the try in the corner in the 21st minute.
After an injury timeout, SARFC threatened to pad its 12-10 advantage but a penalty in front of the posts and then an interception by the Irish pumped the brakes on the scoring opportunity.
With four minutes left until the break, the Irish cracked the try line by the slimmest of margins as Gray stood her ground defensively to make it too close to call but a quick chat between the referee and touch judge confirmed the score.
Leading up to the try was a big stick by Kirsten Porter that shook the pitch.
Trailing 15-12 to start the second half, SARFC amped up the pressure but a combination of penalties, snafus and the odd defensive play by the Irish in front of the try line kept the score intact.
“We had really, really good possession and it would just be in like the last phase of the finishing touch of it where we couldn’t get the ball down or there would be a last-minute knock on so the play is there, the effort is there, it’s just the finishing touches we need to work on which will come with time,” Gray said.
In the 64th minute, the Irish generated a converted try with one of their few times past the halfway line in the half.
Things got a bit weird when a try by Marcia Davis didn’t count and the Irish were assessed a yellow card. When play resumed, Davis pulled off the same short run to the corner a minute earlier and this time the score was legit as SARFC trailed 22-17 with nine minutes remaining.
A few minutes later, an injury timeout seem to kill the momentum SARFC had going while the Irish caught their breath and the result was a lengthy run and the conversion to seal the deal.
The match ended with Dougan’s try off a penalty play.
“In the second half we ran it at them and outplayed them but we just didn’t finish our plays the way we wanted to,” Gray said.
Harding agreed. “We talked about how we play in the 22 and we did those things very well, it was just the skill elements didn’t quite work but we actually got ourselves in very good positions,” Harding said. “Our forwards really played exceptionally well and what we were looking to do with our backs we didn’t quite execute what we wanted but we still did some very good things. We pushed the pace a lot and there were a lot of line breaks.
“It was a shame really in the second half where if we could’ve scored a couple, and I know it’s easy to say that after a game, but that would’ve made a difference and probably shifted the game in our favour instead of where they probably escaped and then the momentum kind of swung towards them and they got a couple of tries that maybe put the game beyond us.”
About a third of the SARFC premier lineup played in the second division team’s 93-5, 15-try blowout of the host Drayton Valley Riggers (0-2 this year and 0-9 last year) in the Edmonton Rugby Union opener May 12.
“Because of numbers some of the girls have to double up,” said Harding, noting that SARFC Is heavily recruiting to build up the senior women’s ranks in the second year of fielding two teams.
Last year SARFC finished 2-8-1 for seventh out of eight teams in its inaugural Alberta premier campaign and in the second division was 6-6 as a semifinalist.
“Second division has its really good players that fully understand the game but there is also a lot of players coming in that are brand new or have only played for a few years,” said Gray, 24. “In div two you want to build to get to prems or girls are there just to have more fun. It’s a little less competitive and in prems it's more like girls are really serious. Most have a few years under their belt and they’re very competitive and they want to get it done kind of deal.”
SARFC joined the Alberta premier league after the 2016 ERU division one season, 9-4 as semifinalists in what was then a newly formed five-team circuit.
“Last year was definitely a rebuilding year. It was a culture shock to come into the prems,” Gray said. “But this year we have new coaches that are awesome and they’re changing our play a little bit and I think we're doing really, really well with them.
“This year we’ll definitely be a contender in the prems,” Gray added. “The end goal would be to win it all but the main goal I would say is get better because you can’t base everything on winning like today. You can still lose a game but we realize the potential we have so it's just to grow as a team to be the best that we can be which might not necessarily end with wins all the time.”
Harding has high hopes the premier team achieves “a better record” than last year. “We just need that consistency so today was just a great example. It was a very good performance but we're not quite there so we've got plenty to work on.”
Harding, 26, has big boots to fill replacing head coach Byron Elliott who played a major role in resurrecting the women's program when it was in danger of folding after a rash of losses and lack of players in 2013.
“The motivation for me is probably the pure love of the game so at some point I'm not going to be able to play and I want to get into the coaching early. Also, everyone as a player thinks they know how to do it best and I want to put myself to the test and see if my way works. Judging by our performance today I think it's working pretty well; it’s a shame it's not that good of result obviously. I also want to do something different by challenging yourself, go outside the comfort zone of playing and put myself in a different environment,” said Harding, who arrived at SARFC last year as an import standoff from Saint Albans, a city in Hertfordshire, England and is a product of the Verulamians Rugby Football Club.
SCRUM BALLS: Tonight’s second division women’s match against the Clan starts at 7 p.m. at SARFC.
Saturday the premier women host the Calgary Rams (1-2) at 2 p.m.
Sydney De La Mare and Janna Slevinsky of St. Albert were among 34 players invited to the Canada senior women’s west camp last week at Shawnigan Lake, B.C. as Rugby Canada began preparations to form a touring team to Europe in November.
