The Comox Valley Kickers women’s rugby team, returning from a two-month long Christmas schedule break and dressed in eye-catching new uniforms, suffered a rude awakening Saturday when it dropped an inglorious 63-0 defeat at the hands of the Nanaimo Hornets at Village Park in Cumberland.
To their credit the Kickers kept playing right till the final whistle and conceded fewer tries in the second half than they did in the first half. In all, the visitors scored 13 tries and four conversions.
Wing Kailey Rintara topped the scorers for the visitors with a hat trick of tries, all in the second half, while fullback Arlene McGuff added two tries and two conversions with flanker Karli McFarlane adding two tries. Brenna Wilson, Kim Stewart and Dana Neilsen scored singles with Cloe Chapdeline and Stewart kicking a conversion each.
The well-drilled and well-disciplined Nanaimo team used its experienced backline to great effect in scoring most of its tries while the Kickers forwards held the edge in the scrums, giving their opposite numbers a lesson in the art of set piece play.
The Nanaimo backline continually brought their fullback McGuff into the line to add an extra woman which stretched the Kicker backline to the limit and forcing them to make desperate tackles in attempts to try and thwart further scores.
One Kicker back-fielder did show surprisingly well in the loss in her first game of rugby. Playing on the wing, Michelle Hamilton found more work than is usual in that position as she continually looked to be involved. She made telling tackles and ran well when she got the ball in her hands.
“I was a bit lost out there,” admitted the rookie after the match. “I had only watched a couple of videos of rugby before playing today. I’m the kind of person who learns by doing, and the more I played, the more I got it. I loved every minute of the game, especially the tackling, and I’m really looking forward to our next fixture.”
“The girls did well despite a lack of numbers,” said coach Steve Russell, missing some of his regulars who work on Mount Washington on some game days. “Laura Locklin played especially well at scrum-half and it was terrific to see Dee Bowe back on the field for at least half the game as she recovers from a knee injury.”
The Kickers women take on Burnaby this Saturday Feb. 12 at home with kickoff 12.30 p.m.
The Kickers men’s team enjoyed a bye over the Super Bowl weekend and take on Powell River at home this Sunday with kickoff 1 p.m.