Girls Rugby: senior team reaches the final of the McGeachy tournament

This past weekend the girls rugby team opened the season by playing in the McGeachy tournament, jointly hosted by Cowichan SS and the Cowichan RFC. On Friday, we played shorter pool games beating Alberni SS 12-5, Vanier SS from Courtney 12-0 and Earl Marriott SS from Whiterock 17-0. We played some skillful, open rugby along with some impressive defence and very efficient set pieces. Tries came from Rona Mitchell, Dylan Kent and Nellie Pitoniak while Hanee Park and Crystal Lockhart scored for the first time in their careers. In the final on Saturday we met Cowichan SS, a perennial power in the province at the AAA level. The girls were not overawed and played with lots of grit and plenty of skill. Nellie responded to Cowichan's first try with a long run of her own and a penalty soon afterwards. Eventually Cowichan's experience prevailed 15-8 but the girls can be proud of a superb effort. They were admirably led by Rona and Mie Maxwell-Smith while Dylan and Geneva Gersten played solid defence in the middle of the field. Equally impressive was the fact that a number of the girls were also performing in ther school's musical theatre production Carousel each evening. We are all looking forward to the start of the school rugby league in early April.