The last match before the playoffs for the U21 Dolphins kicks off tonight at 7 p.m. against the Strathcona Druids at the St. Albert Rugby Football Club.
Both teams are 2-1 in the Edmonton Rugby Union men’s table, with the Druids in second spot with one extra bonus point than the Dolphins.
The teams will also scrum down in the June 8 semifinals and tonight’s winner will host the playoff contest.
The final is June 22 and the provincial final is June 25. Both matches are scheduled for Ellerslie Rugby Park.
The Dolphins are coming off a 33-5 loss to the Clan (4-0) last week at Airways Park.
There are a few players in the U21 lineup that celebrated ERU and provincial championships with the SARFC premier and third division teams last year.
Saturday’s doubleheader at the Pirates Rugby Club features the division one women and third division men from the St. Albert Rugby Football Club.
The women’s match starts at 1 p.m. and the men hit the pitch at 3 p.m.
Last month, the SARFC women won their Edmonton Rugby Union season-opener 29-25 over the Nor’Westers (0-2) and the Pirates hammered the Grande Prairie Sirens 63-7.
The SARFC thirds, last year’s Visser Cup winners in the ERU and Digby Dinnie Cup provincial champions, are 0-2 and the Pirates are 3-0.
In the ERU final, the thirds knocked off the first-place Pirates 25-12.
The thirds lost last month’s lid-lifter 46-13 to the Nor’Westers (2-1) with a lineup of young and old, experienced and non-experienced players and defaulted Saturday’s match against the Lloydminster Reapers (2-0) in the Border City because of a lack of bodies.
The two-time defending Labatt’s Cup provincial champions from the St. Albert Rugby Football Club met their match in Saturday’s premier men’s tilt in Calgary.
The hometown Hornets (3-0) beat SARFC 28-24 in the Alberta Cup fixtures.
The teams have combined to win the last seven provincials and the loss was the first for SARFC against the Hornets after four consecutive wins.
SARFC head coach Si Culley described the loss as a “very disappointing game” after the firsts racked up eight tries and five conversions against the Nor’Westers (0-1) in last month’s 50-35 romp to kick off the season.
“We failed to play the standards we set ourselves, which allowed outside factors to influence the game. Our attack didn’t have the variety of depth we expect of ourselves. We were too high in the tackle area and our support play was too passive,” Culley said. “In the passages we lifted ourselves, we controlled the game and scored some good tries. However, that’s not enough to win over the 80 minutes against well-drilled teams who want to slow the game down.”
Culley vowed “you will see a very different performance from the boys,” with two hard weeks of training in preparation for the SARFC home opener June 11 against the rival Clan (1-0) at 4 p.m.
Meanwhile, the Spitting Llamas, a touring team formed about 12 years ago of past and present SARFC players, ripped up the pitch at last month’s Edmonton Rugbyfest to go undefeated as the social division champions.
The Sturgeon Spirits’ quest for a repeat in metro Edmonton division two men’s rugby ended with a loss to the Edmonton Christian Lions in last week’s final.
Sturgeon finished 6-1-1 (398 PF/77 PA) and the Lions improved to 8-0 (411 PF/50 PA).
Sturgeon, last year’s Alberta Schools’ Athletic Association Tier 2 bronze medallist, advanced to the final with a 44-12 throttling of the St. Francis Xavier Rams (4-3) and the Lions roared to a 46-19 victory over the Bellerose Bulldogs (5-1-1).
Sturgeon and Bellerose battled to 31-31 draw in pool A action.
Sturgeon will now represent the Edmonton zone at the Tier 2 provincials this weekend in Lethbridge. The Lions are a Tier 3 team.
