The Cowichan Secondary Thunderbirds had to wait a while before taking the field for their senior boys rugby game against G.P. Vanier on April 19, but when they finally got to play, the T-Birds prevailed in impressive fashion.
The game was delayed because of a two-hour lockdown at the Courtenay school that ended without incident. Unfazed, the Vanier Towhees players battled hard throughout the game, but Cowichan had an answer for everything and ended up winning 39-10.
Peyton Eagar was a standout for the T-Birds once again, with three tries from the outside centre position, but rookie winger Harley McDonald provided the highlight of the game, collecting an offload and swan-diving over the line for his first-ever try.
“Our forwards were also fantastic, dominating Vanier in the scrum, running the ball hard, and smashing the rucks at every opportunity,” Cowichan coach Tom Fogarty said. “It was a good display of controlled aggression and commitment to the task at hand.”
Also scoring for Cowichan were Owen Harvey, Will Piche and Jesse DiCarlo, with scrum-half Harvey also kicking pair of conversions.
The T-Birds suffered their first loss of the season on Friday, falling 14-5 to Argyle in West Vancouver in their first game of the new Stadium Series cross-zone games that are intended to create more accuracy in the provincial rankings.
Wet conditions hampered the Cowichan running game, and prop Justin Young accounted for the T-Birds’ lone try, smashing through the Argyle Pipers forwards on his way to scoring.
“Overall, we had a very sloppy game,” Fogarty said. “It definitely let us know what areas of the game we need to work on. Hopefully we’ll meet them again at provincials and get some revenge.”
The T-Birds hit the road again on Thursday to visit Nanaimo District.