After a Thanksgiving weekend bye, the Bayside Sharks premier men’s rugby team will look to even its record Saturday when they host the University of Victoria at South Surrey Athletic Park.
The Sharks sit with a 1-2 won-lost mark after struggling in their last match, a 45-3 loss to the Castaway Wanderers in Victoria Sept. 29.
“It’s always difficult, traveling to the Island, especially when you’re playing Castaway because they’re one of the best teams in the league,” said Bayside scrumhalf Cody Rockson, who served as captain for the contest.
“It was definitely not the result we wanted, that’s for sure.”
The Sharks played the Wanderers – premier-league champs in 2010/11 and runners-up last year – close early in the game, and trailed by just a couple as the first half ticked down, but a late try by the home side, which made it 10-3, proved to be a setback for the Peninsula side.
“They scored on the last play of the half, and that really seemed to take the wind out of our sails,” Rockson said.
“We came out in the second half, and it took us about 25 minutes before we could find our footing, but by then, they’d scored three times, and it was tough to come back.”
Bayside’s three points came on a first-half penalty kick by Dan Dixon.
Despite the lopsided defeat, Rockson said the team remains convinced they can string a few victories together in the coming weeks.
“Everyone is still pretty confident. The first half (against Castaway) proved that we can play with the better teams… we just have to put 80 minutes together,” he said.
In first-division action, Bayside edged the Wanderers 31-27.
Saturday’s game against UVic begins at 2:45 p.m., with a first-division tilt, between the same two sides, preceding it.
