The Rockridge Ravens senior boys rugby team is soaring into this week's provincial AA championship tournament as the No. 1 seed and defending champions following a win over their talented cross-town frenemies from Collingwood in the Lower Mainland final.
The Rockridge program has had runs of extended dominance — they won four AA titles in a row from 2004 to 2007 — and a provincial championship win this season would be their first title repeat since those glory days.
"The potential is there," said Rockridge head coach Perino Zambon with a laugh before launching into a long list of reasons why it's way too early to talk about a repeat of the dynasty days. "We are ranked No. 1 going in, but the tournament is such a completely different animal. You've got that compressed time period where you're playing four games in a week so there are all kinds of factors that come into it. Can you stay healthy? We're relatively healthy right now, but that can change. And then just the draw — you can run into someone who is pretty hot. And also I just think the quality of competition is really quite deep at the AA level. You've got a number of good schools that are quite close to each other. There's very good parity."
Right near the top of that list of strong opponents is Collingwood. The Cavaliers are ranked No. 3 heading into provincials following a tight 24-17 loss to Rockridge in the New Zealand Shield Lower Mainland final played May 14 at Klahanie Park. The Cavaliers looked to be outmatched early on in the final as Rockridge built a 17-0 lead by halftime, but a stirring second half comeback made the match an intense one right down to the final whistle.
"We warned our guys to expect that there would be a bounce back (from Collingwood) in the second half," said Zambon. He was right — in just a few short minutes following the break, Collingwood pounded in three tries to tie the game at 17.
"They scored quite quickly," said Zambon. "You could see their confidence — they just clicked. And the things that they were doing well in the first half, they kind of built on that. . . . Collingwood carried a fair amount of the play in the first half despite the fact that we were scoring. A lot of our scores seemed to come off of counterattacks, but if you looked at the sort of balance of play in the first half, Collingwood did have a fair amount of ball and a number of attacking opportunities. We just sort of got ourselves off the hook a few times."
There was no panic on the Rockridge sideline when Collingwood erased their lead in furious fashion, but Zambon admitted there were some tense moments.
"I was a little worried, but it was not completely unexpected. They're really well coached," he said.
The Ravens, however, ended the comeback bid with a long, grinding try of their own to make it 24-17, and then hung on for the win to claim the coveted New Zealand Shield. Liam Peiffer led the way for the Ravens with a pair of tries.
"Our guys managed to keep their composure," said Zambon. "I was proud that they did respond and put together that try, but I think it was a wakeup call for our guys that they can't sit on their laurels. We've been telling them throughout the season that when they get into the provincial tournament, teams will raise their level of play. Our competition will be better because it’s the tournament and also there’s the pressure of playing in bigger, more important games as the season progresses.”
The Ravens lost more than half of their starters from last year’s championship team so there are new faces in the lead roles, although several key players are back for a repeat attempt. Team captain Jackson Claridge and No. 8 Charlie Macdonald were both key contributors last year and have taken the lead this season, along with other standouts such as Tom Peiffer, Sean Cameron, Chase Taylor Robbins and Jake Lan.
“A lot of our kids have played a lot of rugby,” said Zambon. “Not only at Rockridge, but a lot of our kids are pretty active at the Capilanos in their junior program and have played for Team B.C. or rep rugby.”
Rockridge earned the No. 1 seed heading into the tournament and will start their title defence with a matchup against No. 16 Smithers Monday starting at 4 p.m. at Klahanie Park. They aren’t taking anything for granted, said Zambon.
“(Being No. 1) has got its benefits, but at the same time there is a bit of pressure,” he said. “I know we’re going to have to get through a Smithers team that we know nothing about on Monday. Even though they’re the No. 16 team, we have very little information on them.”
From there the tournament will move to Abbotsford Exhibition Park for quarterfinals Wednesday, semifinals Thursday and the championship final scheduled for Saturday starting at 2:30 p.m. at Rotary Stadium.
Seycove secondary is also in the tournament as the 15th-ranked team. They are playing No. 2 St. Michael’s University May 23 following North Shore News press deadline.
As for Collingwood, the Cavaliers will also open their tournament May 23, taking on 14th-ranked R.E. Mountain secondary from Langley. The third-ranked Cavaliers are on the opposite side of the draw from the Ravens, setting up a potential rematch of last year’s all-West Vancouver final. Zambon knows, however, that there’s a long way to go before any team can start making championship game plans.
“(We’re) cautiously optimistic,” he said with a laugh. “It’s going to be a tough tournament. There are a number of teams that have stepped forward. St. Michaels on the Island looks very strong, Collingwood has the pedigree of always doing well in the tournament as well.”
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Three North Shore schools are taking part in the AAA provincial championships being held alongside the AA finals. Handsworth leads the way as the No. 8 seed followed by West Vancouver at No. 10 and Carson Graham at No. 13. All three are scheduled to be in action May 23 following North Shore News press deadline.
For updated tournament information visit bcssru.com.
