Despite an admittedly “brutal” result, the Cowichan Piggies were undaunted by their loss to the Surrey Beavers on Saturday.
The unbeaten Beavers came to Piggy Park with a big, talented squad, and routed the host side 64-0, but head coach Andrew Wright still took lots of positives away from the match.
“We stopped them from getting three digits on the scoreboard,” Wright pointed out.
One of the best First Division clubs in B.C. in recent years, the Beavers have resisted moving up to the Premiership.
“They must have a good eight players who are definitely of premier calibre,” Wright said. “But the club doesn’t want to go up.”
Cowichan countered with an inexperienced group that included two 18-year-olds and four 19-year-olds, the oldest regular being 28-year-old Sean Williams, with Kim Anderton coming in from the over-40 ranks. Wright was proud to field a viable First Division side with so much youth.
“Most of them were under 28,” he said. “I don’t think any other club could do that.
“Even though we lost a lot of our team from last year, we have the players who are still in the Valley, are still trying to move from high school rugby to senior men’s rugby.”
The Surrey coaches applauded Cowichan’s performance, a full 80-minute effort that included several lengthy defensive stands.
“The boys never gave up,” Wright said. “They were ferocious. They fought all the way through.”
Knowing they were in a tough spot, the Piggies experimented with some trick plays off lineouts and a kickoff that they recovered and nearly turned into a try.
“These are the games where you can practice those little ace-in-your-pocket type plays,” Wright said. “They aren’t going to expect that.”
The players knew where they had made mistakes in the match, another reason for the coach to be optimistic.
“The aspects that went wrong are easily fixed,” he said.
Winless through two First Division games so far, the Piggies know this season is a work in progress.
“We’re looking at the big picture,” Wright said. “Being ready for provincials in late April.”
The Piggies will visit Surrey’s other team, the Bayside Sharks, this coming Saturday.