Losing by 84 points to the Lep/Tigers was a moral victory for St. Albert’s struggling women’s rugby team.
“The score wasn’t as bad as our other games,” said captain Zara Dowie after Thursday’s shutout loss at the St. Albert Rugby Football Club. “This is our third game with either playing with just enough players or we’re short. People are fighting through injuries too so you just have to suck it up and keep playing.”
Previous blowouts in the Edmonton Rugby Union (ERU) spring league were 95-5 with only 12 players against the Druids 1 of Strathcona and 85-7 with a starting 15 against the Clanswomen, who were led by New Zealand Black Fern standoff/fullback Kelly Brazier.
In three losses St. Albert has given up a whopping 48 tries.
“It does get discouraging but I think that by us going down to div two this year it might be beneficial in the end,” Dowie said.
The round robin format decides who plays in the Alberta premier league and the ERU second division, starting in late June.
Last year St. Albert dressed basically the same line-ups in premier and second division. The premier team lost nine and recorded two wins by defaults. The seconds finished 3-9 overall as the shield consolation playoff winners after one victory for seventh place in league play.
“It was a tough season. We got absolutely killed,” Dowie said.
With four games remaining in the spring league, its doubtful St. Albert can catch lightning in a bottle for multiple victories.
“Going down to div two is really not going to be a bad thing. We have new players who haven’t played before so we need to build those players up and then we’ll see what happens,” said Dowie.
The 23-year-old hooker is one of the few players remaining from the 2008 St. Albert Blues, the 13-1 triple-crown winners of the ERU pennant and playoff cup and the provincial championship.
“This year it’s kind of a case of whoever is here is going to play. They’re getting thrown in and people are playing out of position, especially in the forwards. People are learning too and it’s all over the place,” she said. “We need to see more commitment and more people out.”
The Lep/Tigers (3-0), last year’s provincial premier finalists, scored three tries in the opening 24 minutes en route to a 32-point lead at halftime.
“In the first half people took little hits and it takes a lot out of you eventually and then you kind of start dying down. Eventually people start getting tired and therefore they’re not making their tackles and that’s how they ran up the score in the second half,” Dowie said.
The closest St. Albert came to scoring was off a lineout ball inside the 22-metre line after some solid forward work sprung Jen Newman free for a long gain in the 26th minute.
A few minutes later, Newman yanked down a runaway Lep/Tiger with a two-fisted jersey pull around the halfway line.
“We played hard,” Dowie said. “The positives were we weren’t getting sucked in on D. We were trying to fan out. Our lineouts were all right too.”
On tap for St. Albert are the Druids 2 next Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Sherwood Park.
