Head coaches are generally their own team’s harshest critics, but Abbotsford Rugby Football Club women’s bench boss Dave Chambers couldn’t find a single flaw with his side’s performance on Saturday.
The Abby women’s dominance was comprehensive as they rolled over the Brit Lions 44-5 in the provincial Division 1 semifinals at Exhibition Park.
“From my point of view, they did everything right that a coach could ask for,” Chambers enthused. “We had good control of the contact points, and as a result we were able to move the ball and put ourselves on the front foot as we attacked. Our defence was really good also.”
That six different players scored tries was evidence of the Abbotsford side’s crisp ball movement. Alicia Noger and Jerusha Dunsmore notched two apiece, while Jen Ross, Megan Hamm, Steph McLean and Elyssa Phillipson added singles.
The Abby women, the defending B.C. champs, had finished atop the Div. 1 regular season standings at 7-1, but the Lions were the team that had handed them the lone defeat.
“They tended to play a very tight game, with a lot of one-off runners from rucks,” Chambers said, reflecting on that loss. “Over the ensuing weeks, we worked very hard to be able to stop that, and to be able to produce our own balls so we could move it.”
Abbotsford moves on to face Kamloops in the B.C. final on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. at Brockton Oval in Vancouver.
“That’ll be a tough, tough game,” Chambers predicted. “They’re very athletic, and they like to move the ball as well.”
