Heading into the final game of the regular season on Saturday, July 9, the Whistler Wolves rugby squad had a chance to finish the season tied for first with a win over the Point Grey Thunder.
It marked the third time the two teams faced off this season, with the first two coming in the preseason 9s tournament where, after a draw in the round robin, Point Grey snuck out a two-point victory on the very last play in the finals.
However, revenge for the pre-season loss wasn’t in the cards for the Wolves on Saturday. In yet another closely contested match, the Thunder came away victorious in sudden-death overtime.
“It was a tough game, for sure. We ended up with a 32-all draw, and then went to overtime. And we lost because it’s golden point—the first one to score a try wins—and Point Grey got us in the end,” said Wolves president Blake Stewart.
“It was a tough way to lose, in golden point, that’s for sure. But it was a really good game … The score went back and forth so anyone could have won it, basically, even up to the last try. It was just who could hold out the longest.”
Despite the loss, Stewart was happy with the way the Wolves played, and singled out the team’s stellar defensive performance keeping it close right to the very end.
With the loss, the Wolves settle into third place on the season, and are set to face off against Point Grey for a fourth time this year in the semifinal matchup on Saturday, July 16 in Langley.
With three incredibly close matches between the two teams already this year, Stewart believes the team will be in for another tough game this weekend. But with a couple adjustments, he’s confident the boys can get the monkey off their back and book their ticket to the grand final the following weekend.
“I think we can get them. I think the boys did enough that it’s just a couple of little things that we need to work on. A bit more game management and we would be fine. Just knowing where we are on the field and when we hand it over,” he said.
“But that’s really all we need to work on moving forward, for next week anyway. So even though we haven’t beat them yet this year, I do think we’re in a good position.”
Despite also finishing third in the club’s first season last year, because of the shortened schedule, this will be the Wolves’ first chance to advance to a grand final in the organization’s history.
If the Wolves pull out the win this Saturday, they will likely be lining up with the league’s top team, the Vancouver Valley Vipers.
The only match between the two this year ended in a draw, which gives Stewart confidence that if the Wolves play their game, they will be fine going up against anybody in the league.
However, for now, the focus is solely set on getting over the hump and beating the Thunder.
Regardless of how the season turns out, looking back on the year as a whole, Stewart is proud of how the club has grown in Year 2, and hopes to see that growth continue for years to come.
“Overall, the season’s been great. We have a good bunch of guys, both that play or just come down and support every game, and the club is just getting going from strength to strength and I even look forward to next year and hopefully getting bigger and better again,” said Stewart, about future plans for the club.
“At least a couple times a month I get asked if there’s going to be a women’s team. That would be my goal, to run a women’s team as well. Being a new team, we want to make sure that we’re able to continue offering the men’s team first. However, moving forward, I would like to have a strong men’s team and even just run the skills training for the women who wanted to stay fit and maybe try a new sport, and eventually, make a full team.”
