With nothing riding on last Saturday’s First Division men’s rugby match in Nanaimo, the Cowichan Piggies were able to focus on some different aspects of the game.
Every year, the Cowichan and Nanaimo rugby clubs dedicate one game to Wayne Peace, a former member of both clubs who also played internationally before he died in 2007 at the age of 45.
There are still members of the Cowichan club around who were on teams with him, and Piggies head coach Andrew Wright managed to integrate a few of them into the match.
He also worked on getting his team ready for the provincial playoffs, which begin this Saturday with a match at Piggie Park.
“The focus quickly turned to the game and prep for this weekend’s match,” he said. “We were able to rest some players, and the ones that played were unscathed, which was my main goal of the day. “
Nanaimo ended up winning the match, but Cowichan quickly refocused on their home game against United this Saturday at 1 p.m.
“Training so far has been excellent,” Wright commented. “The boys are in the right mind set and looking forward to keep the season rolling.”
The Piggies enter the provincial playoffs as the second seed in the province, while United — which represents Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody and New Westminster — is seeded seventh. The clubs haven’t met in several years, so the Piggies don’t know what to expect. They were supposed to play a match this season, but it was called off due to weather.
Cowichan did beat Langley earlier this season, and Langley beat United last weekend.
