Few predicted anything but a provincial rugby title for the vaunted Shawnigan Lake School rugby program.
The title is well deserved. So too is second place, which is what the Oak Bay Barbarians can proudly carry into their future.
The AA and AAA boys rugby provincials took place in Abbotsford, June 1 to 4.
The ’Barbs made a solid run defeating the Handsworth Royals 32-10 in the quarterfinals (Wednesday) and Carson Graham 13-3 in the semifinals (Friday) before being outclassed 43-0 by Shawnigan Lake in the final.
The gap between Shawnigan Lake and Oak Bay shouldn’t come as a surprise. Just two weeks ago SLS not only their ground against, but defeated the Newfoundland Rock U21 team, who featured rep players from across the maritimes.
It was only a few months ago Oak Bay and the St. Michaels University Blue Jags publicily refused to play SLS. Perhaps fittingly then, the ’Barbs and Blue Jags both met SLS in the provincials. The champs dispatched SMUS 50-14 in their quarterfinal on Wednesday.
SMUS ended the tournament in seventh, dispatching the Handsworth Royals 29-14 on Saturday.
Oak Bay’s captain Luke Campbell and SMUS’ Joseph Furness were each named to the Commissioner’s XV.
At the AA level, the Glenlyon Norfolk Gryphons just missed finishing fifth overall for the second year in a row, settling for sixth. GNS fell to Brentwood College 48-12 in Wednesday’s quarterfinal, beat Hugh McRoberts (Surrey) 28-17 on Friday but lost to the Aldergrove Community school 36-25 in Saturday’s placing match.
