A week after finishing the senior boys rugby season fourth in B.C., a subset of Earl Marriott Secondary players boarded a ferry for another provincial showdown – BC High School Rugby Sevens Championships.
The Mariners were the defending champions after a gold-medal performance last year, but did not end up on the podium this time around, placing sixth out of eight teams.
A second EMS team, competing in the larger Tier 2 bracket, placed 13th overall.
Marriott’s struggles were largely a result of simply not having a large enough roster; with the sevens tournament coming right at the end of the school year, when grad and other responsibilities take priority – and considering players had just a few days to recover from 15-a-side provincials – the Mariners were left with just nine players for each of its two teams.
“It’s a bad time to be doing it, really, but it’s just one of those things. We were just really undermanned,” said EMS coach Adam Roberts.
“It’s a lot of rugby (lately) but everyone loves playing in the sevens tournament. It’s just a lot of fun, and it’s totally different than the (15-a-side) provincials. It’s wide-open, pretty run-and-gun. We just didn’t have enough subs.
“The games are only 14 minutes, but they’re very taxing. You’re sprinting an awful lot.”
The Mariners finished the tournament with a 3-3 win-loss record. They earned victories over Mount Boucherie, St. Michael’s and Aberdeen Hall, but lost to St. George’s, Oak Bay and in the fifth/sixth-place game, to St. Mike’s in a rematch.
“We were so close (in the final game), and we were on a roll. It was 19-12 (for St. Mikes) and we were coming back, but then we just made a simple mistake and that was it,” Roberts explained.
“That’s actually the really cool thing about sevens – any team can win any given game. It’s a lot more unpredictable than in 15s because there’s just so many momentum shifts.”
As was often the case in the 15-a-side season, Roberts said his sevens group was “offensively gifted” but struggled on the defensive side of the ball.
“I think we were one of the more fun teams to watch on offence. We just had a hard time with defence,” he said.
With the high-school season now complete, Roberts will turn his attention to a summer coaching schedule that includes taking B.C.’s under-18 boys team on a tour to Ireland; Elgin Park senior boys head coach Mike Jamieson will serve as an asistant coach.
The U18 group will be chosen in the beginning of July, at the conclusion of the regional PRC Championships, set for Burnaby on the Canada Day weekend.
“It should be an exciting summer, for sure,” Roberts said.
