The experiment that is the B.C. Rugby Union’s 2011 season begins the highly awaited second half this weekend.
Continuing on in the CDI Premier League are the top four teams from Pool A and Pool B. Island clubs James Bay Athletic Association, UVic Vikes and Castaway-Wanderers join Meralomas, UBC Old Boy Ravens, Abbotsford Rowing Club, Bayside Sharks and Burnaby Lake.
Velox begins their journey in the second tier Okanagan Spring Brewery League One. They’ll host the Cowichan Piggies Saturday.
By whittling the CDI Premier League down to eight teams, the hope is to create the best possible situation to develop players for Rugby Canada.
Last week the crowd at Windsor Park was treated to a closely contested match between the resurgent CW and last year’s provincial finalists Meralomas. The ’Lomas squeaked out a 13-12 win. It was CW’s final match of the qualification round, an elite level match for players and viewers alike.
And now the schedule gets even hotter for CW, who host the defending B.C. champion UVic Vikes at Windsor Park tomorrow (March 19).
James Bay hosts Burnaby Lake. All games at 2:45 p.m.
Hong Kong Sevens listed
Canada released its roster this week for Hong Kong, the biggest stop of the International Rugby Seven’s series.
Victoria’s Thyssen de Goede (James Bay) and Chauncey O’Toole (CW) will take leave from the Canadian development squad RGC 1404 in North Wales.
Sevens’ returnees include James Bay’s Neil Meechan and John Moonlight, CW’s Ciaran Hearn, and UVic’s Sean Duke, Phil Mack and Nathan Hirayama. All have represented Victoria on the international sevens scene before.
Hand surgery kept Mack, captain of the sevens team, off the pitch for the past three months.
Canada will face pool mates Argentina, Australia and Zimbabwe.
