The Port Alberni Black Sheep had a strong start to the B.C. Rugby playoffs last weekend, picking up a 35-32 win against the Cowichan Piggies at home in the quarterfinal game.
Black Sheep head coach Jas Purewal said Cowichan “came out flying” on Saturday, April 20, pulling ahead 7-0 with a quick try in the first minutes of the game. Black Sheep rookie Daniel Tsai managed to get one back for the home team with a try, but Cowichan scored again to go up 12-5.
“After that, we seemed to get our feet under us,” said Purewal. “Cowichan is a very disruptive club, and very physical. That makes it challenging for us.”
The Black Sheep were able to add two converted tries from Riley Savard and Maxx Bodaly to give the home team a 19-12 halftime score. Cowichan managed to tie things up in the second half, but a couple of penalty goals from Ty Shannon and another try by Bodaly gave the Black Sheep the lead again. Cowichan scored on the last play of the game, but the Black Sheep still managed to pull off a 35-32 win.
“We almost let it get away in the last few minutes,” Purewal laughed after the game.
Overall, Purewal says his team had “a very good day” on Saturday.
“The forwards played a really solid game,” he said. “Maxx [Bodaly] put a good day in for us and Dane Dentoom was very disruptive—he made [Cowichan’s] lives tough, which was good for us.”
The Black Sheep will be moving on to the semi-finals next weekend. They will be travelling to the mainland for their third match-up against Abbotsford this season.
The first game against Abbotsford in November was “very one-sided,” said Purewal, with Abbotsford winning 112-20. The second game, however, was a much closer 34-24 win for Abbotsford.
“This is our third crack at them, and this is the one that matters,” said Purewal. “We’re pretty excited to have the opportunity.”