After a league-wide bye to attend the HSBC Canada Sevens tournament last week, rugby resumed last Saturday with a double header at Cumberland Village Park.
First up were the Comox Valley Kickers women facing off against Island rival Nanaimo Hornets. The Hornets scored first which provided the Kickers with a sense of urgency to answer back right away and helped kickstart a comeback.
Nanaimo’s defence was sound and fast to advance, which made the Kickers backline use quick hands to try and get the ball out wide. The Kickers forward pack was unrelentless with crashing the ball. It was an evenly matched game, with a lot of back and forth action. Lock Cailey Collins and winger Kristianna Bouwers both scored twice, and outside centre Daris Tendler scored once. Flyhalf Paula Simpson added one try and five conversions. The final score was 40 - 24.
“Our team came in ready as they knew it would be a hard and physical game. Every person on the pitch rose to the occasion, from the forwards who worked hard to produce good balls to the backs who made good use of every opportunity,” said Kickers coach J.P. Lussier. “There are still things we still need to work on, especially with our next opponent being the Meralomas, who are the defending BCRU Division 1 champions. Next week will be another hard and physical game.”
The Kickers men hosted Westshore RFC. The opposing team started off fast, putting up four unanswered tries in the first half. With their backs against the wall, the Kickers came out blazing hot to start the second half. Inside centre Stephen Hextall led the charge by scoring three tries with flanker Brandon Hudson adding two tries. Winger Ethan Pellett added three conversions. It was a hard-fought battle, but time was against the home squad. The final score was 52-31 for the visiting team.
“Westshore had all the momentum in the first half. I’m proud of how our guys stepped up their game in the second half. We made our tackles, our lineouts and scrums were strong, and our backs ran good lines. It was just a little too late as we were against the clock,” said Hudson, the Kickers captain.
The women kick off against Vancouver’s Meralomas Saturday, March 23 at 11:15 a.m. at Cumberland Village Park. The men have a bye.
The CV women’s and men’s teams are still recruiting players for the season. No experience needed.
FMI: comoxvalleyrugby.ca or email cvkickers@gmail.com