Although they battled to the end, the Port Alberni Black Sheep dropped a 47-32 decision to the visiting Vancouver Rowing Club in rugby action last weekend.
Saturday, April 6 was the last game of the season for the Black Sheep, before playoffs begin later this month.
“We’ve had no continuity, which is really a shame,” said coach Jas Purewal after the match. “We played so much beautiful rugby today, but for a 15-20 minute period, we had all these unforced errors.”
The Vancouver Rowing Club, he added, is a “ruthless” team currently sitting at the top of the BC Rugby men’s Div. 1 standings.
“They just sniff it out and they take advantage of it,” Purewal laughed. “We were just a little careless, and that resulted in giving them a lot of opportunity.”
The half-time score was 20-14 in favour of the Rowing Club. Scorers for the Black Sheep were Maxx Bodaly, Mat Kelly, Anthony Selva and Ty Shannon (one try, three conversions and two penalty goals).
Overall, Purewall says his team played well. The Black Sheep’s lineouts were good, he said, and scrummaging was “on and off” throughout the game.
“We created a lot of really good rugby and our defence was pretty good,” he said, which makes things look “pretty promising” heading into the playoffs. “I think the opportunity is there if we can just get honed in a little bit.”
The Black Sheep have a bye week next weekend, after which the B.C. Rugby Union playoffs will officially begin. Purewal says he doesn’t know yet who the Black Sheep will be facing in the first game. The team is currently sitting in third place in the standings.
“With a win today, we would have guaranteed a home playoff game,” he said. “Now we need some other teams to help us.”