The Charles Hays Secondary School rugby boys’ teams got their first licks of the season in during a weekend trip to Williams Lake.
CHSS travelled east with 12 juniors and eight seniors, so a few of the juniors subbed in for the senior squad to bolster their names. In the end, the senior team went 3-1 and the juniors went 2-1.
“Excellent progression was noted in all the new players as they quickly learned to adapt their training and drills to the real game scenarios,” said head coach Andy Enns.
On Friday afternoon, the teams played sevens rugby. The seniors fell to Williams Lake 24-10, then beat them with a couple of Terrace subs 19-14. The juniors beat Williams Lake 17-10, then lost to the same team 19-12.
On Saturday, Kamloops arrived with eight senior players. The senior boys beat Terrace 19-12 and NorKam 17-14, while the junior boys beat Williams Lake once again 24-17. All the CHSS players then joined with Terrace against Williams Lake and NorKam (Coast vs Cariboo), to play twelves in the windy rain. The Cariboo took it 26-12.
“MVP was Ryan Vick, who was scrum half for the seniors and some of the junior games, scoring nine tries and four conversions for 53 points,” Enns said.
The coach also lauded Josh Wickett, who was another junior who stepped up to dominate for both teams.
“Oliver Fris-Bjorling and Jason Rioux were the top speedy backs for the seniors while Connor Nelson and Colin Ramsey were the powerhouses up the middle, with Colin driving in his first career try,” Enns said.
Lots of rookies debuted in the tournament, including Zach Wesley, Lochlyn Good, Marty Moore, Nick Bennett, Dathan Greer and Michael Kitchener.