This year’s Grade 8 rugby teams has done very well for being brand new to the sport.  The team was led by a strong forward pack and by an exciting group of backs. They started off the season with an exhibition win against Burnaby South.  In the regular season the team went 2 and 2 with wins against Byrne Creek and a very close loss to Mountain 21-22.  They also came up short against West Van in an exhibition game but played a very exciting style of rugby and showed a lot of skill development.  The boys applied what they learned from these loses to put together their best rugby at the end of the season. At our lunch meeting prior to the final it was obvious the team did not think they could overcome two tough losses earlier in the season to the strong Mountain team. Led by the belief of our leaders the boys left the meeting with a renewed winning attitude. They executed our game plan to perfection. With the boys up after the fist half, Mountain came out in the 2nd with a strong push. With our opposition mounting a comeback, the team lost their captain Owen and it looked like it was heading for a Burnaby Mountain victory. Owen refused to leave the field as he watched with a broken nose. The team then rallied around his inspiration and great runs from Justin Tommi, and Ryben, as well as big tackles and rucking from Max, Nick, Roko, TJ and Aiden, and, some clutch kicking from Ivan to close out the win 42 to 34. The coaches were especially proud of the courage and character the team showed to win the Burnaby Banner against a strong opponent. They showed great rugby IQ, toughness, athleticism and team play to finish the season on the a winning note. Great season boys!Our point leaders are :

Evan V – 1 Try 26 converts, 57 points

Owen P – 8 Tries, 40 points

Justin W – 6 Tries, 30 points

Tommi M – 6 Tries, 30 points

Ryben N – 5 Tries, 25 points

Aiden L – 2 Try, 10 points

Mikkal – 3 converts, 6 points

TJ – 1 Try, 5 points

Nikos – 1 Try, 5 points

Rokko – 1 Try, 5 points

Award Winners:

League All Stars: Owen P, Ivan V

Top Forward: Aiden L

Top Back: Ryben N

Congrats to this year’s Senior Boys Rugby team who defeated Windsor in the Lower Mainland Tier 2 Final.  The erased an earlier regular season loss to them.  They played a great team game allowing Sam Hsu to score early.  Then Lynden Duggan would score 5 tries to seal the victory 36-34.  Sateki Vikilani, grade 8 fly half, would kick the converts that brought the team ahead.  The team earlier defeated McNair in the semi final to earn a spot in the final.  Other highlights included a 2nd place finish in the Burnaby Lake 7s Tourney.  The boys will play Byrne Creek on June 6 for the Burnaby Banner.  

See the link to Varsity Letters on our Final win: 

https://varsityletters.ca/b-c-high-school-rugby-report-05-20-19-get-ready-for-st-georges-vs-carson-graham-collingwood-vs-rockridge-in-new-zealand-shield-title-tests/ 

Congratulations to the Senior Boys Rugby Team who won the Burnaby/New West Banner after defeating Alpha by a score of 50-0, avenging an earlier loss in the regular season.  The team put on a great display of rugby and sportsmanship in their last game.  Their season results may not have shown how well the team played as they won 3 games and lost 3 by less than a try.  The final try count include Max F with 14, Siaki V 3 (1 con), Aiden 3 (6 con), Shaan B 3 (2 con), Sean D, Lynden D & Philip S 2,  Dylan D, Sam H, Tomas W 1, Keegan 1 (8 con).  Take a look below at the before and after of some of our graduating rugby players.

Team Photo (current schedule posted under Rugby Page)

The Grade 8 Rugby Team defeated Moscrop 45-0 to win the Bantam Boys Burnaby District Banner.  The team steadily improved during the short season and was highlited by great tackling, accurate passing and hard running.  All Star selections went to Kenny Cogoy, Gerard Seong, Arjun Uppal and Philip Seong.  Other members included: Graham Armstrong, Owen Slivester, Nathan Gill, Arash Rasti, Parsa Ranjbar, Ben Skulski.

The Senior Rugby Team was able to cap off a successful year by winning the Tier 2 Plate Final at the Invitational Provincial 7 aside Rugby Tournament by defeating Prince of Wales 17 to 14.  Other results included wins over Argyle  (24-5) and Lake City (10-7) and losses to St. Georges B and eventual winners RE Mountain.

This comes off of the heart breaker overtime loss in the Lower Mainland Tier 2 Final 26-31 to Sutherland.  The team were awarded the Burnaby District Banner and still had a great year with only 1 loss during the regular season.

Our final list of Award winners included:

MVP Back- Kenny Cai

MVP Forwward – Ansel Hait, Mac Burns

Top Back – Daniel Ozero, Siaki Vikilani

Top Forward – Kenzo Raccanelli

Top Rookies – Skyler Beattie, Caleb Zehr

All Star Selections – Micheal Zieffle, Naveen Kainth, Hussein Whalida

The senior team is rolling along very well at the mid point of the season.  They are 2 and 1 in league play.  The team has been highlighted by exciting back play and hard running by the forwards.  Stay tuned for the team stats.  Standings can be found on the bcssru.com website.

The Junior Rugby 7s Team participated in the Lower Mainland Development tournament and came away finishing 5th out of 10 teams.  The team could have placed much higher but came out short when 3 teams were tied for 2nd in our pool.  The team won against Prince of Wales and West Vancouver but lost close ones to St. Georges B and Collingwood B (eventual champions).  They defeated Sentinel in the 5/6 placing game.

Senior Rugby Team Practice begins Feb. 2 and every Tuesday/Thursday in February then move to Monday/Tuesday after spring break.  Our first game is Wednesday, March 30.  Hoodie Order must be in By Feb. 5.  Updated Schedule is posted under the Rugby Page.

Click Here to see the World Rugby article on former Central Grad Admir Cejvanovic

Senior Wrap Up – Thursday May 21 6 PM @ Lougheed Red Robin (rsvp to Mr. V).  Make sure you get you votes in for best back and forward

Juniors – see info board re: Vancouver East U 16 tryouts