Rugby Sevens on a grand stage

The Junior and Senior Girls Rugby Teams had a phenomenal showing at the B.C. Girls Rugby Sevens Championships this past weekend at Brentwood College School.

On Friday, the senior girls went undefeated in pool play, qualifying for the semifinal crossovers against Esquimalt on Saturday morning. The semifinal was a back-and-forth game that was full of adrenaline, with Shawnigan ultimately edging out a 24-19 win. This victory landed the seniors in the gold medal game that was played at Westhills Stadium in Langford in front of a large international crowd. In the title game, the girls played hard but unfortunately lost to Belmont 24-5 to become provincial silver medalists.

The junior girls had a more challenging road on Friday. They won their first game, lost their second to Lake City, and finished on a high note with a 38-0 triumph. In the semifinals, the juniors faced the #1 team, falling behind until the dying seconds of play when Shawnigan scored a try and kicked a successful conversion to claim a 17-15 win. This meant that the squad would also play for gold in front of the Canada Sevens crowd – a nerve-racking experience for these young girls. With athletes injured, playing for the senior squad and missing for the Shawnigan Regatta, the girls played the entire weekend with virtually no substitutes, yet still found a way to settle their nerves and earn a 17-12 victory in the championship game.

The season is far from finished for these impressive young women. Having earned gold and silver medals at the Provincial Sevens Championship, the girls will now turn their focus to the B.C. 15s championship, scheduled for the end of May in Williams Lake.

 

– With submissions from Coach Shannon Atkins