Brentwood College School placed third and Cowichan Secondary School finished sixth at the provincial high school girls rugby sevens championship in Victoria on April 15 and 16.
“I would say we were very unfortunate not to be in the final,” Brentwood coach Marius Felix said. “A set of difficult circumstances prevented that from happening.”
The Island champions and defending provincial champs, Brentwood lost to Oak Bay in the semifinals of the provincial competition. Oak Bay went on to win the final 38-0 over Lake City from Williams Lake, while Brentwood won the third-place game 27-7 over Valleyview Secondary of Kamloops.
“It was a pretty straightforward game for our kids,” Felix said of the third-place game. “I was really proud of the kids. They played hard all weekend. The disappointment of not getting in the final makes for a tough rebound game. They put it behind them quickly.”
Felix gave credit to all his players for performing well over the two days of competition, led by standouts Mckenna Haz, Avi Sharabi and Denise Roy. Brentwood also got Danika Elias back in the fold after she missed the Island Sevens while playing with the national U18 XV team in England.
The Cowichan Secondary Thunderbirds went 2-2 in pool play, then beat Earl Marriott in the plate semifinal behind two tries apiece from Brigitte Reid and Emily Lindsay. They lost the plate final 29-5 to G.P. Vanier, with Lindsay accounting for the lone try.
“We are a young team who is quickly gaining experience, but our lack of game time and experience against more developed sides shows,” Cowichan coach Brad Skene said. “It is exciting that we can be explosive and effective against most teams in the province, but when we face the toughest teams we struggle to find our shape and lose confidence. As a group, we need to execute, perform and trust each other when the pressure comes.”
Brentwood players Haz, Sharabi and Roy, and Lindsay and Kendall Raymond-Stevens from Cowichan were picked to play on the BC High School Girls Rugby Association all-star team that played the Thunder Aboriginal Rugby Team during intermission at the Canada Sevens tournament in Langford on Sunday, April 17. The B.C. all-star team, coached in part by Skene, won 29-5.