Wednesday marked the end of the provincial championship dreams for the Abbotsford Panthers junior boys rugby team, but 2018 proved to be the best year ever for the growing program.
The Panthers fell 49-27 to the Earl Marriott Mariners in the junior boys provincial semifinal at Exhibition Park, and now have the opportunity to finish third in the province on Friday.
Abbotsford trailed 27-15 to the Mariners at halftime and couldn’t close the gap.
Despite the loss, Panthers head co-coach Chris Kleisinger said it was a memorable year for the team.
“We’re an up-and-coming program and this is the first time that the Abbotsford junior boys have made a provincial tournament,” he said. “We came up against Earl Marriott – one of the heavyweights and a very established program, and they executed well and we weren’t able to counterattack.”
Kleisinger said the Mariners have the Panthers’ number, beating them all three times they played this year. Abbotsford now takes on Victoria’s St. Michaels University in the bronze medal game at Rotary Stadium on Friday at 1 p.m. He said taking home the bronze will be tough, but would be an incredible achievement.
“The guys don’t really understand yet how hard it is to even get to this level,” he said. “They’re playing against some of the highest end of rugby programs, and I think they realize they can compete with these schools – they’re a new program in town.”
Kleisinger said working with the successful Panthers football program has helped draw interest to his team.
“The school has the athletes, and what really helped us is engaging the football kids and getting them to try out a new sport,” he said. “It can help make them a better overall athlete. We just needed to engage them and others in the sport.”
He said the Panthers’ 30-17 win over Carson Graham on May 24 and a regular-season win over the Yale Lions were the highlights of the season. The win over Carson Graham qualified the Panthers for the provincial tournament.
Kleisinger added that he’s very optimistic about the future of the program, and thanked the administration and the Panthers football program for their help this year.
In other rugby provincial news, two local senior boys programs are still in the provincial title hunt at the event, which wraps up on Saturday at Rotary Stadium.
The Robert Bateman Timberwolves opened the AAA Tier 1 tournament with a 33-22 win over Claremont on Wednesday. Bateman took on Earl Marriott in the provincial semifinal on Thursday evening, but results were not available at press time. The provincial title in that tournament will be crowned on Saturday at 3 p.m.
Also advancing were the W.J. Mouat Hawks, who defeated Nanaimo District 40-14 in the AAA Tier 2 tournament quarterfinals on Wednesday. The Hawks battled Elgin Park on Thursday in the semifinal, but results were not available at press time. That tier’s provincial champion will be decided on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Meanwhile, the provincial hopes for the Yale Lions were dashed on Wednesday after losing 19-18 to West Vancouver in the AAA Tier 1 quarterfinals. Yale took on Lord Byng in the consolation bracket on Thursday, but results were not available at press time.
In other rugby provincial action, the AAAA provincial final has been set as Oak Bay will battle Shawnigan Lake. That championship will be determined at Rotary Stadium on Friday at 5:30 p.m. Friday is capped with an exhibition match featuring Team Canada U20 taking on Team B.C. U23 at Rotary Stadium at 7 p.m.
For more details on the tournament, visit bcssru.com.