The prevailing wisdom in rugby is strong offence wins fans, while strong defence wins championships. Thankfully for the Banff Community High School Bears boys rugby team, they appear to have both as they chase down another provincial title.
On Monday (May 27), Jordan Barrie scored twice as the Bears clinched a spot in the zone finals with a 25-12 win over the Black Diamond Oil Field Drillers on the Calgary Rugby Union pitch.
An unrelenting offence and stingy defence allowed the Bears to break open the match in the second half and cruise to a convincing win.
The win also set up a match against Strathcona-Tweedsmuir school, Banff’s dreaded rivals, tonight (May 30) at the Calgary Rugby Union.
“We’ve played STS three times in zone finals. It’s going to be a bloodbath for sure,” said Bears captain Joe Barry.
Against the Drillers, Banff had their forwards and backs demonstrating great fitness and teamwork, as the well-coached team exploited their opponents’ forward group.
Banff scored within the opening minute to seize momentum quickly with a 5-0 lead. The Drillers responded with withering defence, making Banff pay for several running mistakes – something the Bears had to adjust to. They ended the first half with a 10-5 lead.
In the second half, Banff again scored early thanks to strong work from the forward group. The Drillers responded immediately after a Banff mistake gave them remarkable field position, but Banff regrouped and scored two more tries for the 25-12 win.
“At first we were running really high and they were holding us up. In the second half, we really brought it together. All the boys ran lower and stronger and we came out with a win,” Barry said. “I just told the guys to run low, run hard and play hard.”
Coach Alex Boston was proud of the way the boys played, stating the team is peaking at just the right time.
“Our forwards played as one tight unit,” said Boston. “Our backline, our hands have never been better. We were able to spread wide and get around them. They were ranked number two last year, so it’s good to get a win against them.”
Banff hadn’t faced the Drillers since last year in semifinals, and were confident they matched up well against their opponents.
“I knew they would put up a good fight,” Barry said. “I knew they had a good team, but knew we could do it.”
The Banff girls rugby team also played Monday, dropping a lopsided decision to Springbank. Springbank is ranked second in the province and showed why against the first-year Banff crew. Head coach Cody Skrine said it was good to see his team improve, even though they lost.
“We played them earlier in the season, and it’s night and day. The fact we’re making them work for it is excellent,” Skrine said. “We need to work on our tackling, but our defence was a lot more solid than it was before.”
Captain Leanne Pettigrew kept a positive attitude through the game.
“We played well and really improved through the season. We did exceedingly better than the last time we played them,” Pettigrew said.
The team will play for third place at zones on Thursday and Pettigrew said she’d love to bring a medal home BCHS.
“We hope we can bring it home for Banff,” she said.