A new season has started up for the Port Alberni Black Sheep Rugby Club, and so far the team is 0-2 at home.
The Sheep fell 36-22 to the Cowichan Piggies during their home opener. This was followed by a 41-33 loss against the Castaway Wanderers on Saturday, Sept. 21.
“The big problem of the day was they scored three tries in the first eight minutes,” said head coach Jas Purewal after Saturday’s game. “We had the same problem last week.”
Tackling was also “a little bit off the mark,” said Purewal, which is something that the team will be working on in practice.
Saturday’s score was 17-7 at halftime, but the Sheep managed to make a game of it at the end. One more try would have put the Black Sheep in the lead, but they fell just short of the mark.
Tries were scored by Cody McClary, Asaeli Rokotuiwakaya, Dane Dentoom, Joseva Raiwako and Maxx Bodaly. Jayson Matthews had three conversions, and Ty Shannon added another conversion.
“We’ve got a handful of new guys coming out, which is very exciting,” said Purewal. “A few young guys. The Castaways are a very good club down in Victoria. They did enough to win, and our own mistakes hurt us more than anything else.”
Purewal added that despite the losses, the Sheeps’ numbers have been good.
“We’re excited about where we might end up here,” he said. “Each week we’re getting better. No one likes to lose, but I think we did enough to do some good things.”
Port Alberni will be hosting Abbotsford on Saturday, Sept. 28. Kick off is at 1 p.m.
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