Island Teams Claim Rugby Titles at AA and AAA Provincials
The 2009 AA and AAA Senior Boys Provincial Rugby Championships concluded Saturday afternoon as both titles were claimed by teams in and around the Mill Bay area.
In the AA championship, 1st ranked and defending champions Brentwood College easily disposed of challenger Rockridge 29-0 to give them back-to-back titles. BCS was lead by Stan Heunis who was named to the Commissioner's XV team as an all-star of the provincial tournament. Other Vancouver Island representatives named to the AA team include Ross Neville of Reynolds, Ewan Jones of Ladysmith and Tino Sutton from Esquimalt.
In other final round AA action, Esquimalt defeated Aldergrove 20-17 to claim 5th in the province, while Reynolds lost to Clarence Fulton 26-12 to finish 14th. Ladysmith also lost their final game of the tournament to Kalamalka 15-10, placing them 8th.
In the Vancouver Island matchup for the AAA title, Shawnigan Lake held off Victoria's St. Michael's University 21-7 to win the championship. This victory was especially sweet for Shawnigan following a blowout loss to Carson Graham in the 2008 title game. Despite the loss, St. Michael's can still hold their heads high, as this was the fourth consecutive season SMU had made it to the AAA final four.
The only other AAA final round game involving local contention was another Vancouver Island matchup between Courtney’s Vanier and Victoria’s Oak Bay. The Bays defeated the Tyee’s 16-12 to give Oak Bay 7th in the province while Vanier settled for 8th.
Island representatives for the AAA Commissioner's XV include Shawnigan's Tye Hamblin, Jared Sweet of SMU, Oak Bay's Shea Wakefield and Tyler Boettcher from Vanier.
