The Capilano Rugby Club’s elite men smashed their way to a 17-15 win over the University of Victoria Saturday at Klahanie Park, kicking off a CDI Premier League campaign in which they’ll be looking for a lot more smashing success.
The Vikes took an early lead in the match, capitalizing on a Capilano drop to score the only try of the first half and lead 5-0 at the break. The Caps came back in the second frame with their bruising running game coming through while their defence remained strong. It wasn’t a high-scoring, high-flying contest, and that’s just fine with Capilano head coach Keith Reeves, who said that you can expect more of the same from his young and tough squad this year.
“Our commitment was fantastic, and the defence was really good,” said Reeves. “We aren’t blessed with a great deal of pace, but we have got some size. It’s not very pretty. You base your tactics and your game plan around the guys that you’ve got and obviously the opposition that you’re facing, and this season we’ll be playing a lot of smash-mouth rugby. It’s the kind of team that we’ve got.”
Jordan Reid-Harvey got Capilano on the board against UVic, punching in a short try that followed a bruising run from veteran leader Glen McKinnon. A conversion by captain Chris Robinson, followed by a penalty kick from UVic, made the score 8-7 for the Island team, but the Caps took the lead for good when Robinson slotted a nifty pass to Alex Boyd who raced in for his team’s second try. Robinson converted again, and later knocked home a penalty to make the lead 17-8 for Capilano. A late try from UVic off of an interception made Capilano sweat out the last few minutes.
“It was only a late, tired error that got them back in the game and made the score look a little closer than it probably should have been,” said Reeves. “If I had any hair left, I would have lost them all, I think.”
A few hair-raising moments aside, Reeves said he was impressed with what he saw from his team following a long holiday break that saw their training sessions restricted almost exclusively to indoor gyms due to snowy conditions.
“I thought we dominated the game for long periods,” said Reeves, adding that Capilano really settled into its rhythm in the second half and were cruising right up to the interception near the final whistle.
“That gave us two or three minutes of anxiety, but really up until then I thought the defence was dominant,” he said. “They’re a good young team, UVic, and they’ve got a reputation for pushing the ball wide at every opportunity, and they didn’t get around us. … If you think that half the game is defence, it was a big step forward on Saturday. Some of the guys played some of the best rugby they’ve ever played for me. I was really pleased with the result.”
Capilano’s premier team has seen a lot of turnover in recent years, with less than a handful of players left from when Reeves took over head coaching duties at the start of the 2015 fall season. Veteran holdovers Robinson and McKinnon still set the pace with several other young guns stepping into prominent roles. Connor Martin, the son of late Carson Graham teacher and coach Jim Martin, made his premier debut at fullback, while Steven Ng, who played for Canada’s U18 national team last season, came on for an impressive stint as a sub late in the game.
“We’re a very young team,” said Reeves, adding that it took his team most of the first half to sort out their roles and responsibilities. They likely won’t have the luxury of any adjustment periods this Saturday when they travel to UBC to take on the Thunderbirds, the two-time defending Premier League champs.
“I always look forward to playing them,” said Reeves. “I think that UBC sets the benchmark for the rest of the league, and it’s up to us to play catch-up with them. They’re the team that I always want to beat. And, to be honest, I haven’t beaten them yet. Of course that doesn’t stop us from having a good go.”
This Saturday will be no different, said Reeves.
“Nobody gives us a chance on Saturday, but I think if we can put in the same kind of defensive effort that we put in at the weekend – and there’s no reason why not – then we can push them all the way,” he said. “If you were a betting man, you wouldn’t bet on us at the weekend. (But) I think that if we lose, it will be because we’ve made UBC work very, very hard for their victory.”
Following Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island qualification rounds in the fall, there are nine teams left to battle for the 2017 Premier League title. Last year Capilano made the playoffs but lost in the opening round. This year Reeves will be hoping to improve on that showing.
“I’ll stick my neck out and say top four finish. … And then anything can happen in the playoffs,” he said about predicting his team’s fate this year, adding that there is a tough road ahead just to make it that far. “There’s no easy games, because you’ve lost the weaker Island team, you’ve lost the weaker two Mainland teams (in fall league qualification), so every game from now on will be tough.”
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Saturday, Feb. 18 will be a big day at Klahanie Park as Capilano will be hosting five games. The premier women will kick things off with a matchup against Westshore starting at 11:30 a.m. Capilano’s Div. 3 ‘A’ men’s team will also take the field at 11:30 a.m. against Kats, while the Div. 3 ‘B’ team will square off against Abbotsford at 1 p.m.
On the elite men’s side UBCOB Ravens will come to town for a 1 p.m. showdown in Div. 1 play followed by the Premier League matchup at 2:30 p.m.
