WEST VANCOUVER — On the road to the B.C. Double A boys rugby championships, the Collingwood Cavaliers and Rockridge Ravens have annually steeled their mettle by the matches they have played against each other.
And if you’re interested in just what kind of a springboard to success their ongoing West Vancouver derby rivalry has produced, you need only know that over the past seven years, both have been a part of the provincial tournament’s semifinal round six times.
But despite each winning provincials titles twice over that span (Brentwood College from Vancouver’s Island’s Mill Bay has won three times), the road to that final four is getting tougher each season.
“Triple A has two super powers,” sums Collingwood coach Dave Speirs of the larger tier’s Shawnigan Lake Stags and St. George’s Saints. “But the Double A field is super deep, and that is going to mean very good quarterfinals and excellent semifinals.”
It’s the quarterfinal round which opens play Wednesday (10:30 a.m.) at Abbotsford’s Rotary Stadium complex, with all four championship-side tilts running concurrently, including Collingwood facing fellow West Van school Mulgrave, and Rockridge tackling Southridge of Surrey. The Triple A quarterfinals will all run at 3:30 p.m. Both tiers play semifinals Thursday, with the championships taking place on Saturday.
Other Double A quarterfinals being contested Wednesday are Victoria’s St. Michaels University School vs. D.W. Poppy of Langley, and Brentwood College vs. Hugh McRoberts of Richmond.
“With SMUS now in Double A,” begins Rockridge coach Perino Zambon, referencing the former Triple A power which last season moved to the smaller tier and placed third, “our tier just seems to be getting deeper and deeper. It’s gone from three or four teams deep, to now eight deep.”
Yet Collingwood and Rockridge continue to remain among that handful of annual favourites. The most recent rankings have the Ravens No. 1 and the Cavs No. 2. The two sides have split their two meetings this season and are stationed on opposite sides of the championship draw. And of course, they have met in two of the last four B.C. title tilts, with Rockridge winning 36-27 in 2010, and Collingwood winning 20-10 last year.
“The kids know each because they went to the same elementary schools, they do the same things on the weekends, they have played rep rugby together and with the Capilano club. Their proximity has created a great rivalry.”
The Cavaliers, who have been to four straight championship finals and won twice, have been powered by so many key players this season that Speirs could go on and one, but at its heart is a senior core which includes the likes of flankers Thor Eggertson and Carlos Sheppard, prop Austin Wright, fly half Adam Bushell and Bailey Speirs, the scrum half.
“We lost a lot of firepower but we have filled in pretty well with the veteran guys,” says Speirs of a roster that still welcomed back eight starters from last season’s title team. “We have had a really good group for two straight years and at a small school like ours, that is hard to come by. We’ve had a core of 12s who have led the whole way this season.”
The Ravens have been led by the likes of senior co-captains Mitch Mehlenbacher and Angus Carroll, and senior Gian Steenkamp.
Also playing a big role has been No. 8 Charlie Macdonald.
Wednesday’s Triple A quarterfinals: Earl Marriott vs. Oak Bay, Carson Graham vs. St. George’s, Lord Byng vs. Robert Bateman, Shawnigan Lake vs. Yale.
