The Gryphons Sr. Boys Rugby team was back at it again last weekend taking on the local rivals from Terrace, Prince Rupert and Houston.
The playday began Friday with a draw between Terrace and Smithers.
Both teams were equally matched and fired attempts for tries back and forth all day.
Although no one scored, Smithers had a second shot at Terrace on Saturday and didn’t let the opportunity slip though their hands.
After a hard fought match, the Gryphons came out on top four tries to two.
Their next game was up against Houston. Although they are a relatively inexperienced team with a lot of new players, their efforts in training paid off after smashing Houston on home turf.
Their final match against Prince Rupert was a crushing victory.
Coming out strong the Gryphons quickly put up two tries and Prince Rupert just couldn’t recover. The Gryphons went on to beat Prince Rupert 35-0.
“They did very well,” said boys rugby coach Allen Slater.
“They came together as a team and showed that they can do it. They’re ready now for zones.”
Rugby competition in the north is sometimes contrary to that in the south. However, with zones next week the Gryphons are looking to score big and make another appearance at provincials at the end of the month.
“We’re definitely coming together; the first day was a little rough but we came back and won against Terrace,” said captain Ryan Stumborg.
“We’re definitely getting cleaner ball but we have to step it up if we want to make provincials though.”
Due to the short season in Smithers the Gryphons are holding up well against their northern rivals but once they head south the competition stiffens up. Still, they are optimistic about their chances and know that they need to keep working hard to have any sort of chance at prevailing at provincials.
“We got to work on our line outs and just have cleaner balls,” said Stumborg.
“If we can get it out to our line, we have a pretty solid line in…so we’ll win the ball and hopefully score some tries.”
