The Cowichan Piggies’ spectacular spring came to a sudden stop on Saturday with a 32-8 loss to the Surrey Beavers in the provincial First Division rugby semifinal game.
After getting upset wins against higher-seeded Nanaimo and Westshore teams to win the Cowichan Cup as Island First Division champs, the Piggies struggled to play the nearly flawless rugby that got them into the provincial final four.
“We weren’t as clinical as we needed to be, and as a result we missed opportunities,” head coach Gord McGeachy said. “We had some issues getting on the front foot and getting our momentum going. When we had opportunities to score, we didn’t take advantage of them, particularly in the red zone.”
Several of those opportunities came in the last five minutes of the first half, when the Piggies had potential tries held up no fewer than three times. The Beavers built on that defensive stand.
“That put a stop to any kind of momentum we had in the game,” McGeachy said. “I think it gave them a huge psychological boost, knowing they had been under all that pressure and kept us from scoring.”
Cowichan’s points came on a penalty goal by Jenner Teufel early in the first half and a hard-earned try by Mike Rea early in the second half.
The Piggies weren’t about to let that one loss define their season, which included the Cowichan Cup championship win over Westshore, the top seed on the Island.
“We are pretty disappointed, but we’re not going to judge our whole season by one game,” McGeachy said. “Going into the playoffs as a three-seed and winning two big games to get to this point is something to be proud of.”
McGeachy announced that he will step aside as head coach after this season. Former Piggy Andrew Wright appears likely to take the reins, after working closely with McGeachy during the last year.
McGeachy feels the team will build on this year’s success under Wright.
“I expect bigger and better things, regardless of who’s coaching,” he said.
