Vancouver, BC: Day one of the 2012 BC Rugby High School Girls Provincial Sevens championship featured 24 games of heart-pounding rugby as 16 teams from across the province scrummed down at UBC's Thunderbird Stadium.
The teams competed in round-robin pool play on Friday in hopes of securing berths into the Cup quarterfinals. Four sides went undefeated to top their pools and advance as top seeds. The list includes perennial powerhouse Carson Graham, Cowichan, Abbotsford and GP Vanier. Also advancing after securing the second seeds in their pools were Walnut Grove, Semiahmoo, Robert Bateman 'B' and Lord Tweedsmuir.
The Bowl quarterfinals kick off at 9:00am Saturday morning with Elgin Park facing off against Cowichan 'B'. Also competing in the Bowl quarterfinals are Walnut Grove 'B', Kwantlen Park, Robert Bateman 'A', Mt Boucherie, Lord Byng and Stelly's.
Defending provincial champions Cowichan Thunderbirds were in top form on day one, outscoring their opponents by a wide margin of 89-5. The Thunderbirds posted two clean sheets as their defence launched them into the quarterfinal rounds.
"Last year's team was a veteran team and this year we are rebuilding so I've been really happy with our results today," said Cowichan's head coach Brad Skene. "They have bought into the way we are trying to play. They are coachable and they are playing with a lot of passion."
Skene has seen first hand how sevens rugby is expanding at the high school level and was pleased to see the provincial championship grow from five to 16 teams in just one year.
"It's great that the BCRU is recognizing that sevens is becoming a major component of rugby," Skene said. "Playing in the [UBC Thunderbird] stadium shows the recognition that the BCRU is giving to high school girls rugby in the sevens version of the game. Being able to play at UBC with 16 teams is massive."
"When sevens was being talked about going into the olympics probably about four to five years ago now, we started introducing it to the BC Summer Games and that was the first time U17 girls and the players were playing sevens," Skene added. "Now we're starting to see better coaching in sevens, better athletes in sevens and it's dramatically different than what it was four to five years ago."
This event would not have been possible without the coaches and teachers who have dedicated so many hours to making sure this tournament came to fruition. BC Rugby would also like to thank Tere Blake and the BC Rugby Referees Society for officiating the matches this weekend. Special thanks must also go out to the event's announcers - Canadian internationals Barb Mervin and Marlene Donaldson - who kept the crowd entertained and kept everyone on a tight schedule!
DAY ONE RESULTS - April 13, 2012: 1 Carson Graham "A" 14 - 10 Robert Bateman "B" 2 Elgin Park 37 - 0 Mt. Boucherie 3 Semiahmoo 20 - 0 Kwantlen Park 4 Abbotsford "A" 45 - 5 Lord Byng 5 Cowichan "A" 30 - 0 Walnut Grove "B" 6 Lord Tweedsmuir 32 - 5 Stelly's 7 GP Vanier 32 - 0 Cowichan "B" 8 Robert Bateman "A" 5 - 22 Walnut Grove 9 Carson Graham "A" 22 - 12 Mt. Boucherie 10 Elgin Park 10 - 24 Robert Bateman "B" 11 Semiahmoo 24 - 0 Lord Byng 12 Abbotsford "A" 44 - 0 Kwantlen Park 13 Cowichan "A" 37 - 0 Stelly's 14 Lord Tweedsmuir 12 - 0 Walnut Grove 15 GP Vanier 20 - 5 Walnut Grove 16 Robert Bateman "A" 22 - 0 Cowichan "B" 17 Carson Graham "A" 33 - 5 Elgin Park 18 Mt. Boucherie 0 - 26 Robert Bateman "B" 19 Semiahmoo 0 - 30 Abbotsford "A" 20 Lord Byng 38 - 0 Kwantlen Park 21 Cowichan "A" 22 - 5 Lord Tweedsmuir 22 Stelly's 7 - 29 Walnut Grove "B" 23 GP Vanier 29 - 0 Robert Bateman "A" 24 Walnut Grove 35 - 0 Cowichan "B"
POOL STANDINGS: Pool A: 1. Carson Graham 3-0 (9 pts) 2. Robert Bateman 2-1 (7 pts) 3. Elgin Park 1-2 (5 pts) 4. Mt Boucherie 0-3 (3 pts)
Pool B: 1. Abbotsford-A 3-0 (9 pts) 2. Semiahmoo 2-1 (7 pts) 3. Lord Byng 1-2 (5 pts) 4. Kwantlen Park 0-3 (3 pts)
Pool D: 1. GP Vanier 3-0 (9 pts) 2. Walnut Grove 2-1 (7pts) 3. Robert Bateman-A 1-2 (5 pts) 4. Cowichan-B (3 pts)
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DAY TWO SCHEDULE - April 14, 2012:
Match# Qualifying Round 25 Bowl QF Elgin Park vs Cowichan-B 9:00am 26 Bowl QF Walnut Grove "B" vs Kwantlen Park 9:20am 27 Bowl QF Robert Bateman "A" vs Mt Boucherie 9:40am 28 Bowl QF Lord Byng vs Stelly's 10:00am 29 Cup QF Carson Graham vs Walnut Grove 10:20am 30 Cup QF Cowichan-A vs Semiahmoo 10:40am 31 Cup QF GP Vanier vs Robert Bateman "B" 11:00am 32 Cup QF Abbotsford "A" vs Lord Tweedsmuir 11:20am
Match# Semi-Final Round 33 Shield SF Loser Game 25 vs Loser Game 26 11:40am 34 Shield SF Loser Game 27 vs Loser Game 28 12:00pm 35 Bowl SF Winner Game 25 vs Winner Game 26 12:20pm 36 Bowl SF Winner Game 27 vs Winner Game 28 12:40pm 37 Plate SF Loser Game 29 vs Loser Game 30 1:00pm 38 Plate SF Loser Game 31 vs Loser Game 32 1:20pm 39 Cup SF Winner Game 29 vs Winner Game 30 1:40pm 40 Cup SF Winner Game 31 vs Winner Game 32 2:00pm
Match# Finals Round 41 Shield Final Winner Game 33 vs Winner Game 34 2:40pm 42 Bowl Final Winner Game 35 vs Winner Game 36 3:05pm 43 Plate Final Winner Game 37 vs Winner Game 38 3:30pm 44 Play Off Loser Game 39 vs Loser Game 40 3:55pm 45 Cup Final Winner Game 39 vs Winner Game 40 4:30pm
