Shawnigan Lake School won an all-Valley battle against Cowichan Secondary School last Wednesday to claim the Island AAA girls rugby championship.
Shawnigan prevailed 50-19 in a hard-fought match between two teams that are ranked in the top five in B.C. heading into the provincial tournament later this week.
“It was a battle,” Shawnigan coach Shannon Atkins said. “They kept crashing up the middle hard. We had to work extremely hard on defence to try to stop them. Our offence was very strong and when we got our hands on the ball, we quickly found success. However, Cowichan was so strong that they had possession a great deal of the time.”
Maggie Banks led Shawnigan with three tries, Sammi Lillywhite added two, and Avery Champion and Chloe Storie-Soth had one each. Storie-Soth also slotted five conversions.
The teams had already met twice in the season — once in exhibition and again in league play, so the Cowichan Thunderbirds knew what they were up against.
“We feel our T-Birds can compete with the top,” Cowichan coach Sherry Spence said. “Every game we take away something and the next time we do it. These girls have really grown into some amazing rugby players; it’s very exciting to watch.”
Among the skills the T-Birds have learned from game experience this year was attacking off the side of the ruck, something Spence felt her team dominated in last Wednesday’s match.
“Unfortunately, those are the slow, hard yards,” she noted. “Shawnigan utilized their power in the back line and every mistake that happened, it seems like they scored off it.”
Sadie Tucker got Cowichan on the board in the first half, crashing through the Shawnigan defence to score her team’s first try.
Shawnigan is ranked third in B.C. going into the provincial tournament that begins this Thursday in Williams Lake. Cowichan goes in seeded fifth, and will play Earl Marriott in their first game.
“Even though it’s a completely different game, Earl Marriott was the team we lost to in our pool game of provincial sevens, so we’re ready for the battle,” Spence said. “And we’ll see who can last 60 minutes.”
