Delta Rugby News

Sunday was the last day of the Junior Boy's season. Both teams had made it to the Play-off finals. The U16 team were in a back to back final and the U18 team made it one step closer than last season. 

The U16s played against Surrey at Sullivan Heights. The U16s have had issues with player numbers all season and unfortunately they had to start with reduced numbers in the final. The game time weather was wet, which was actually the first time this season that has happened to either of our Junior teams. This last game mirrored how both teams started this season, that time our U16s won the game at John Oliver, on Sunday Surrey U16 got their payback. Our U16 team has played some very entertaining rugby this season but for once they were met by a slightly bigger and more experienced team. In the rain Surrey opened up a 12 to 0 half time lead, that grew to 24 to 0 early in the 2nd half. The young Lions then got back into the game with 2 quick tries to make the score 24 to 12. Surrey had a good bench of spares which allowed them to keep up the pressure and increase their lead to 45 to 12. Our boys were not done and with the last play of the game we scored our 3rd try to make the final score 45 to 17. There was obvious disappointment all around but the season is not judged on this one game. Our U16 had some notable victories against much bigger clubs during the season, they played with a number of young players who will be back for another U16 season next year and have a number of players who are now ready to step up to the U18 level. The club thanks Kelvin, Lynne and Joe for their help looking after and coaching the U16s this season, a bit of stress but a lot of fun with this team.

The U18s had a chance to overturn their only defeat this season against United. The rain had cleared up and the game went ahead under blue skies. United have a strong Junior rugby program at all levels and had players from two U18 squads to choose from for this game. United play a pressure type game with strong forward carries to draw in defenders then fast outs to their backs. This caused us issues in the last game and again in the final. Our U18s defended bravely and were organized but with enough phases sometimes scores are inevitable. After two early tries against us we ran into some penalty issues with the referee which took away our fluency and front foot rugby game, this allowed United easy access back into our 22m zone time and again. We were behind at the half but started brightly with a 90+ meter run by Larry to get our first score. United used their bench to keep fresh players in the play and they countered our try with more of their own to open up a 37 to 5 lead. With time running out our boys kept going and managed to run in a try on the last play of the game. The final score was 37 to 12 for United. Like our U16s our U18 team has had some challenges this season, the hardest was losing over 12 players who we thought were eligible to play U18 in September. But we had some players step up from U16 who fitted in well, some new players from our local schools who soon fitted into our group, along with our returning core of players from last season. We even had an international import join us. The U18s play a dynamic, front foot style of rugby which is great to watch and enjoyable to play and resulted in a number of worldly level tries over the season. To see the disappointment on the faces of our team shows how much they care and also enjoy playing for the Brit Lions, and we are so proud of the season they played. Many thanks goes to Coach Brandon who provides an environment that encourages growth and understanding for the team, which is reflected in the way they play every week. Like the U16s the U18 season is not judged on the outcome of this one game. The marked improvement of some players is impressive, the maturity to understand and follow a game plan is important and the fact that the Senior Men now have 10 players who have graduated from our U18 team is unprecedented.

The season is over but we have one more event planned for our boys with an Awards Night coming soon. The Brit Lions Rugby Club is so grateful for all of our young players and their commitment, we are also pleased to see so many family members out supporting their boys and both of the teams, to hear the sidelines roaring on all of our players makes all we do on the wet, dark nights worth while.

Well done to our Junior Lions, you made us so proud of you all again.