South Delta Rugby

It wouldn’t be going out on a limb to declare 2008 the most successful season of rugby ever at South Delta. In March our senior team toured Ireland with a squad of 39 players and four coaches. Our ‘A’ squad won 3 of 5 games on the tour and most of these games saw the whole squad get playing time. The tour however, took it’s toll on the senior team and injuries prevented this year’s team from reaching it’s full potential. Healthy, this years senior team was certainly one of South Delta’s finest.

We fielded six rugby teams in 2008; two senior squads, two junior sqads, a grade 8 squad and new this year, a senior women’s squad composed of grades 8-12. Close to 150 students participated in this years rugby program and currently the Juniors, grade 8s and the women’s teams are active in the Fraser Valley Championships with games scheduled into late May.

On Friday, May 9th at 3:15 p.m. we celebrate our 20th Annual ‘Old Boys’ Alumni rugby game. It takes place at South Delta Secondary. Once again, former coach and founder, John Narbett, will come out of retirement to coach the Old Boys. The SDSS annual ‘Old Boys’ alumni game celebrates our friendships, our school and our sport.

We welcome the community and particularly former alumni to come out and watch this classic match up and challenge all former Sundevil rugby alumni to brush off their boots and put on the old school jersey for this annual friendly match. Festivities get under way around 3:00 pm at the South Park field. Later we’ll head over to the Tsawwassen Golf Club for dinner and hoist a few at around 6:30 pm.  

Women’s rugby is back at South Delta. Working with a squad of 24, only one player had any games expereince. Our first game against Heritage was a hard fought battle seeing three tries scored; one for us and two for them. Our set scrums and line-outs were flawless but we were beaten in the loose.
Our second game and the first with our new jerseys saw the team come out a little flat and Hanson was able to sore and convert a couple of first half tries. The She Devils came out stronger in the second half and managed to score a converted try and hold Hanson to only one score that was unconverted. The final score was 19- 7.
Our most recent game against Tweedsmuir was a hard defensive battle which saw the opponents display excellent ball control but we manged to hold them to only one unconverted try. The She Devils next game is against a strong Aldergrove side and our last league game will be against Haney.

Ireland Tour photo’s are courtesy of Rod Lotzkar. To see Rod’s photos, go to:  http://www.pbase.com/sdssrugby/inbox&view=treeWednesday March 26, 2008

The 1st XV were scheduled to play their U16 a team that is superior to their U18s. However, they had about 27 players and wanted to get them all in to prepare for the Galway cup final that they will be playing in two weeks down the road. So they set up three 30 minute periods. About 28 of our lads dressed and participated in the match.

Now this was definitely one of our thrillers. The Irish have several strengths constant with all teams we played. Skilled and very fast backs (all of whom can kick extremely well) who to the man take the ball at pace. They always focus on stripping the ball and cheat like hell with hands in the ruck.

All of these things proved to be our undoing in the 1st period. They racked up some 20 points to our 5. They had a #11 with blinding speed who managed to score two of the tries. Despite pleading by the SD coaches to keep the ball in close and play A ball, we continued to try the outside and just kept spilling or losing the ball and giving them room to attack. Finally about half way thru the 2nd period, when the score was 27 to 10 for the hosts, our lads realized that our strength was to simply keep the ball tight and run at them and just maintain possession. We did this magnificently and only occasionally threw the ball out to the backs. Because their backs began to get cold, we were able to make great ground outside and then bring it in for more crash ball.

It worked. Final score 31 to 27 for the guests from Canada.

Now this village was without a doubt the nicest group of people we met on tour. After the match we all had food, did the presentations and then they had a disco for the boys. Waiting in the disco there appeared to be dozens of lovely Irish girls all anxious to meet the Canadians.

Sadly, only 15 of our 39 were being billeted so at midnight because the coaches were tired, 24 boys were forced to extricate themselves from the arms of wonderfully friendly Irish girls and pour onto the bus for the trip into Galway and our hotel.

The following day, we drove the boys out to Monivea and used their pitch for a pre game practice. Our last match was to be for our 2nd XV versus Galwigians. As it turned out the Galwigians produced a stacked team complete with a number of U18s. The game turned out to be lopsided – final score 50 to 0.

However, the score does in no way reflect the determination and commitment of our 2nds. They played with huge pride and knocked several times on the doorstep of the Galway boys. They did us proud and came of the field very satisfied and most importantly ….PROUD.

Galwigians strangely showed us no hospitality what so ever, so we just got on the bus and went back to the hotel. Many of our Monivea hosts traveled to the match and their explanation for the lack of hospitality was expressed with the words: “CITY FOLKS”.

They do not like the city folks.

Now the boys that got billeted had a fantastic time and the parents could not do enough, including washing their clothes, feeding them well. We must understand that while this is a farming village, the Irish are no longer poor subsistence farmers and our boys had the luxury of their own bedrooms complete with en suite in palatial homes. Good on them.

Now one important factor is Mr. Alan Dagg. He as you might recall is the X-Pat Irishman, 4 years in Canada, who joined us as translator and tour guide. He actually lived for some time in Galway. Well, his best friend who lives in Dublin, made the drive up to see Alan and us before we left. It seems that he and Mr. Dagg elected to visit every pub in Galway before Alan had to leave his homeland. Now while this would have been an impossible task for any normal human being, Mr. Dagg came very close to completing this task and we are all looking forward to abusing him on the upcoming 6 hour bus ride to Belfast one hour from now.

The Irish are an interesting lot and I am now convinced that the saying that, “God invented Guiness so that the Irish would not rule the earth” is actually quite true.

On to Belfast for our last night together. Apparently Delta Secondary has been threatening to impose big hurts on our boys next Thursday and I know the lads are looking forward to practicing all that they have learned on this trip.

Final tally: 1st XV: 3 wins – 2 losses
2nd XV: 0 wins – 3 losses ( a little deceptive because we played most of our boys in 2 of the 5 games slotted for the 1stXV)

This has been an amazing experience for not just the boys but the coaches as well. We have all truly come together and our theme for the tour: PRIDE AND FRIENDSHIP has come to pass.

We arrived in Limerick about 5pm after a stop on route at Bunratty Castle.  This was a really interesting stop with a tour leader taking us through the castle followed by a wonder around a working village set up exactly as it would have been at the time, complete with chicken plucking room, low entrance way thatched huts and more.  We are helping the Irish economy at all these stops as the boys load up with items from the gift shops on site.

The boys are showing signs of the wear and tare of such a tour.  The “plague” has spread to almost all the boys.  Only 3 turned down cough medicine last night.  This and some bumps, bruises and a couple of dislocations, but the boys are as Doc Mitchell says, “manning up”.  Nick Mills has been a poster boy for this plague, unable to run at practice, feeling nauseous but sucking up and playing his heart out in each game.  And he is not alone, Zach, Ryan Helferty, Chris to name a few are just not letting it stop them.  It is quite humorous actually.  After the match today, the coaches did their usual post game chat with the lads but it was difficult to hear them through the coughing and hacking.

Now one of the highlights of the tour has been the accommodation in Limerick.  The Irish are a little different about billeting.  Our tour company had promised and set up 3 days of billeting in Limerick.  Well, the day before we left BC, we got an e-mail telling us that the billeting was off and that the tour company was eating 3 nights of accommodation in a hostel in Limerick.  Well, you have to visit this “hostel”.  The tour company has set us up in what is almost a 5 star hotel with each room being a complete suite with two bedrooms.  The boys are now 4 per room, or 2 per bedroom and the staff are absolutely fantastic.  The general manager even bought a round for the coaches.

But this may well have lead to poor performances on Saturday.  We were hosted by the UL Bohemians.  On Friday morning the host side coach a retired Super 12 prop (he is a Kiwi) lead the boys in a terrific practice, much learned.

However, it appears that we are not a good morning team.  Our matches were scheduled to be played simultaneously at 11am Saturday.  This created some interesting challenges in that we were well down on availability due to injuries.  So Minns and Blackwell stood in the end zone passage separating two pitches (back to back)  Andy did sideline subbing duties for the 2nd team and Barry and Alan did the same for the 1sts.  What was so funny was that each time a key player went down on the 1sts, a sub was made on the 2nds and a player was removed from the starting line up on the 2nd team and shifted onto the 1st team.

First to go was the 1st team #10, then a flanker, a lock and a centre.  By the last sub the 2nds had no spares left and an injured lad could not stand to watch it and strapped on his boots and played his heart out for the 2nd team.  He was indeed the last man standing.

Anyway, the 2nd team really came out flat and did not have their heads in the game what so ever and were simply dazzled by an extremely skilled U16 side.  You had to feel sorry watching the poor winger coming up to make a tackle facing a 3 or 4 man overlap.  Lots of tries in the corners.  The score was badly lopsided by the final whistle, but we were very proud of our boys, they did not quit and finally scored a well earned try.  They approached the coaches after the match and asked for a practice on Monday morning the day of their last game of the tour.  You have to say something positivee is happening when boys ask for, no demand a practice.

The 1st XV did much better but like the other team, seemed to still be in the hotel.  They knew that the team they were playing was not even close in skill and ability to the Clonmel side but with injuries, fatigue and sickness, they just could not muster the gusto needed.  The final score was 22 to 10 but this did not really describe how often they knocked on the host’s doorstep.  One try held up and several opportunities to cross the line stopped just short.  But the boys are knackered and just could not find enough to beat a team that they knew they could have beaten.  But no regrets, they had fun and did some great stuff despite injuries and lack of energy.  What is quite clear is the coaches and captains have to find ways and means to change the rollercoaster like performance in each match.  We have difficulty maintaining the momentum and level of commitment from one game to the next.  This is of course the mental side of the game and we are all soul searching to overcome this problem.

Following the match, the boys were bussed to Limerick University to watch the Bohemians play Black Rock.  They were all given a great meal and cheered on the the Kiwi who had come out to lead their training on Friday.

The same billeting fiasco it appears has occurred in Galway.  Originally the boys were all to be billeted for 3 nights in this town.  But, we found out while here, this was now 2 nights.  Well, last night we found out that only the 1st team is being billeted because the other team backed out of taking billets.  So, tomorrow we head for Galway, stopping to see a castle on the way.  The 1st team will be matched up with billets but the hosts (Corinthian U18s) have decided to schedule the game for Sunday instead of Monday as originally planned.  It would be better for us to have a day off for healing but they are the hosts.  I think the hosts are planning a dance for the boys and as Monday is a holiday, Sunday is ideal for a late night.  So, tomorrow with no break in between, the 1sts will kick off at 7pm and then enjoy the hospitality of Corinthians RFC for the rest of the evening. 

The 2nd team will practice Monday and then at 7pm under the lights in the Corinthians stadium pitch, play a very good U16 side who will be pumped up to say the least playing in this venue.  This will be our last match of the tour.

It is now almost 1 am on Thursday, March 20th.  The bus has just returned from our 3rd match against a club in Tipperary called Clonmel RFC.  We are staying in a hostel in Cork and it is about a 2 hour drive to the club.  Our matches of course were Wednesday night but with the long ride home we passed into Thursday.  However, it is best to report while everything is fresh in one’s mind so despite real fatigue here goes:

Clonmel originally had planned to have two games simultaneously but as they were building bleachers on one of their main pitches they chose to have our 2nd XV play their U16 squad at 6pm followed by their U18s playing our 1st XV.  Our 2nd XV played a great game and moved the ball well in the tight and controlled much of the loose. 

However, as one might imagine, these lads who have been playing together since the age of 10 showed great skill on the outside and were able to crack SDs defense at the corners.  There was no quit in our boys but eventually they fell to the hosts 17 to 7.

The 1st XV and the Clonmel U18s then came on the field and with all of the usual pre-game emotional promotion the kick off to begin the match was at 7:10pm.  It appeared from the get go that our boys would be in over their heads, somewhat like the match versus Ashburne’s U18 side.  And this was confirmed with an early try in the corner.  This was a very skilled and physically strong side, certainly as good or better than the Ashburne lads.  But something magical seemed to prompt our boys and they somehow managed to keep covering the field and spoiling what often looked like sure tries.  Locks were coming across to support the backs and made huge tackles on their outside runners to time and time again spoil their efforts to cross the try line. 

After much of the first half being spent defending, one of our big props went for a ramble and suddenly became unstoppable and just when the Clonmel finally managed to bring him down, our #10 was there and our prop made a beautiful off load allowing our fly half to scamper in between the posts for our first blood.  As the game progressed, South Delta’s confidence seemed to keep growing and our defense just kept getting stronger.  So it had to, because the Irish sides show amazing skill at steeling ball in the loose and have kicking skills learned from years of Gaelic Football.  Our deep backs seemed to sense the distance and their positioning throughout allowed their side to keep returning and penetrating. SDs fly half avoided several tackles behind his 22 and managed to get away a kick that did not come close to touch, but he had the foresight to chase his kick and snatched it from their fullback and scored the next try.

The second half proved to be a bit more testing for the boys as the host side was not about to walk off the field as losers to this Canadian side.  But something seemed to keep pumping the Delta side up and they were just not going to let the Irish in.  Eventually the Clonmel lads scored an unconverted try and this seemed to give them a lift and put us back on our defensive heels for much of the half.  But again we broke out and eventually after some praiseworthy rucking and rolling mauls another of our props crashed over the line and another converted try was on the board. 

The score was now 21 to 5 but the Irish side was determined but with each flurry of great back play, our defense was just not about to let down.  Eventually they crossed over again but could not convert so the score now about half way thru the second half was 21 to 10.  They just kept coming and managed to score again but with no conversion.  The South Delta side however just kept battling realizing that a converted try would result in a win for the hosts.  When the final whistle blew with the score 21 to 15 for our side, the entire squad of 39 boys was elated.

I cannot remember watching a game with so much heart and so much commitment.  Our team somehow reached a new level in pace to the breakdown and defensive skills.  Most interesting was the fact that the second half was over 50 minutes.  It seemed that the ref who was also the U18 coach was having a problem with the time keeping side.  However, he eventually blew the final whistle only yards from our goal line and that paved the way for some superb hospitality.  This is a club worth hosting and certainly worth visiting again.  We are the first Canadian side they have played and I think the boys did the country proud.

What is also very noteworthy is the conduct of these young men from South Delta.  They are incredibly polite where ever they go and deserve a lot of praise for how they have handled themselves on this trip.  A bit of a lie in tomorrow, breakfast at 10am, bus departs at 11am to Bunratty Castle, then onto our hostel in Limerick.  On Friday morning they will have a training session with the Munster RFC coach so much is expected to come from that.

The The lads have been amazingly responsive to the “cultural” side of this tour. Needless to say the Guinness factory was a hit, but the Book of Kells was really interesting for them, especially the Trinity College Library. Today, we did not know how they would react to stopping to see the Rock of Cashel on the way to Cork.

Our resident Irishman Alan Dagg figured they would be bored with this but to the man they were so amazed with the history and architecture that we were somewhat astounded. We have now decided to fit at least one other castle into the tour.

The highlight of course was St. Patrick’s Day. Everyone has to wear green on that day so all 44 of us hit a street vendor and he likely retired after huge sales of scarves, flags, hats etc.  The city is alive on this day and the major streets are shut down to cars for the day

More to come. Had a practice that hockey coaches refer to as a “bag skate” this morning before heading to Cork. Pre-game practice tomorrow and then two games simultaneously at 7:00 pm in Tipperary. Next day off to Limerick. The boys have been great with the exception of the flu/cold that has hit us like the plague.

The SDSS Devils found themselves in tough against a very strong Ashbourne U-18 side in its second game on tour.  The Ashbourne team had recently clinched it’s local league title and their skill and togetherness were evident throughout the game. 

The eventual score was 48-0 to the home team.  However, that did not really do justice to the spirit and tenacity of the Devils defending against a highly skillful and well drilled Ashbourne team.  Unfortunately, the team that was scheduled to play our second squad cancelled only days before the fixture and the organizers were unable to find a replacement team.  However, the coaches were able to rotate all the players into the game as they did in the first game against Malahide.  And the team didn’t miss a beat as all the players were rotated in

The boys agreed that this was an educational experience.  Some might say a “schooling”.  But this group who have been playing together in both rugby and Gaelic football since they were 11 were a well oiled machine.  The scrum half / fly half connection was wonderful to watch and the fly half had moves that left the proverbial jockstrap around one’s ankles. 

But what these lads had down to an art was the rolling maul.  The best we have come against or seen so far.  At one point they rolled over 20 yards and no one knew who had the ball and we tackled several players only to look up and see a lad lying in our end with the ball down for the try.  So we will be practicing this for attack and developing defending techniques beginning tomorrow.

Rod Lotzkar has set up an Ireland Tour Gallery with some great photos of the trip so far.  I’ve posted a few of them to the Sun Devils website as well.   

Shaking Shaking off the jet-lag of the following day’s travels and tribulations the SDSS Devils team arrived at the stunning Malahide Rugby Club and took to the field against the experienced local U-18 club team.  The Devils were pumped.  Straight from the kick-off the team ran hard and aggressively with the ball and even harder and aggressively in defense. 

Although the local team were successful at turning over the Devils’ possession, the pressure started to tell and Malahide conceded a couple of penalties.  A great kick to the corner gave the Devils a line-out on the 5-metre line.  The ball was thrown to the back where Ryan Helfrety collected the ball and powered over the line for the first try.  Keagen McCabe converted the try and the Devils found themselves with a surprising 7-0 lead. 

Malahide came back hard, but the Devils defense in mid-field held firm and eventually caused a errant open field kick which was gratefully collected by Keagan and run back for try under the posts.  Continued pressure resulted in a second run in by Keagan, followed by a blocked clearance kick that was recovered by Nick Mills for the Devils forth try and a stunning half-time 24-0 lead

After half-time the Malahide team came back hard and pressured the Devils with some testing positional kicks and hard-running back-play.  The pressure told and Malahide clawed their way back into the game, scoring four unanswered tries and binging the score back to 24-22.  The last minutes tested the pride and determination of the Devils defense.  The defense held and resisted a final minute pounding of their goal line to record a hard-fought win in their first game on tour. The final score Malahide 22 SDSS Devils 24.

The Devils were hosted admirably by the Malahide club afterwards and the players, coaches and parents experienced the spirit and friendship of rugby which pervades the game world-wide