The Charles Hays Secondary School boys rugby fifteens hosted their first game of the year, and lost 27-15 in a well-fought effort against Terrace.
It started out a bit tentative for the Rainmakers, but Jason Rioux broke through on the sidelines and placed the ball down for five points to take the lead, although it wouldn’t stick.
“Terrace settled into a bit more disciplined play while the Rainmakers struggled to find a rhythm,” head coach Andy Enns said.
Rupert forward continued to drive the ball up the field but Caledonia’s defence proved too formidable. On the flip side, Terrace took advantage of a few defensive lapses by the Rainmakers and scored four tries in the first half to take a stronghold on the game.
In the second half, things improved as CHSS settled into their more-established style of play and held the Terrace team to a single try while scoring two of their own.
“This was the team’s first outing as a fifteens squad and they only got better as the game progressed,” Enns said.
The coach lauded Liam Dobson, saying he had an excellent game, fielding several deep kicks successfully and acting as an effective sweeper on defines against some very strong fast runners.
Rioux scored twice and Keelan Lemon-Shearing scored his first try in the loss.
“Keelan scored his first try and is continuing to grow in his role as jack-of-all-trades forward. Today, he was 8-man and it suited him well,” Enns said.
The coach also mentioned Josh Wickett proved to be quite the slippery individual to corral and contain and Connor Nelson moved between the forwards and backs, playing multiple positions with skill.
Next up on the schedule is a date in Terrace on May 27.