The Cowichan Valley is known for producing exceptional rugby players and that talent was demonstrated this past weekend during the boys’ 2024 Provincial Rugby XV championships. The provincial tournament kicked off Tuesday, May 28 in Abbotsford at Abbotsford Exhibition Park stadium and wrapped up on June 1.
While none of the region’s four participating teams earned the gold, three of the four placed in the top five and one in the top 10 of their respective competitions.
AAA
The Cow High senior boys side attended the 3A provincial tournament this year. The six seed in the event, the T-birds faced Carson Graham in the quarterfinals and fell 19-5. The loss meant Cow High dropped to the consolation bracket and met Elgin Park for the chance to move on to play for fifth overall. After beating Elgin Park 13-12, Cowichan went on to play for fifth and sixth positions against Kelowna on June 1 and after a low-scoring affair, eked by Kelowna 8-7 to claim fifth place.
Despite being 2A sized, the Shawnigan Lake senior boys always compete in the 3A grouping. They head into the 3A event seeded second and met Elgin Park in quarterfinal play last Wednesday afternoon, winning convincingly, 45-12. The victory pushed Shawnigan’s boys to the semi-finals against Carson Graham on Thursday, May 30, where they won convincingly, by a 53-5 score to advance to the finals against St. George’s on June 1. It was a close final but St. George’s were able to get one try more than Shawnigan, winning 15-10, to hand Shawnigan the provincial silver medal.
AA
Brentwood College’s senior boys side were the No. 4 seed in the 2A provincials and kicked off their tournament against Argyle last Wednesday morning and won 22-15 to earn a spot in the semi-finals against Collingwood, who ousted Charles Tupper 98-0 in the quarterfinals the day before. Collingwood didn’t fare as well against Brentwood as they did the game before, but still they were able to beat Brentwood 55-0 in the semi-finals. That meant Brentwood would play for third place in the province, against Earl Marriot on June 1, which they did, falling by a 33-15 score to place fourth.
Junior
Shawnigan Lake School’s junior boys side didn’t qualify outright, but a team withdrew ahead of the provincials and the Shawnigan squad was named replacements. They kicked off the junior tournament against Robert Bateman on Tuesday May 28 and fell 38-5, pushing them to the consolation bracket, where they fell to SMUS 19-5. The junior boys played Yale on May 31 to determine seventh and eighth places and the lads went out with a bang, ousting Yale 49-7 to finish seventh.
