The Cowichan Secondary Thunderbirds senior boys rugby team closed out the regular season last week by crushing Mark R. Isfeld 76-5.
“Isfeld are a very raw and new team, and they showed tremendous heart throughout the game despite being outmatched, especially in the first half,” Cowichan coach Tom Fogarty said. “Once the starting lineup for the T-Birds came off at the end of the half, the game was more competitive, and the home crowd got to see some up and coming Grade 10s display their talents.”
The highlight of the match was a dazzling full-field run by Keegan Favel-Lee, who beat just about every Isfeld player on the pitch to score under the posts. Other standout performances came from Justin Marinier, Logan Kits and captain Griffin Diaczuk.
“[Diaczuk] broke the gain line every time he carried the ball,” Fogarty noted. “And smashed the opposition backs at every phase possible.”
Marinier finished with two tries and five conversions, and Kits had two tries and three conversions. Also scoring for Cowichan were Thore Labrenz, Franz (Das Auto) Cherubim, Blaze Wilson, Liam Simmonds, Dylan Taylor, Clayton Bergstrom and John Walker.
The T-Birds opened the North Island playoffs as the top seed, hosting Georges P. Vanier on Thursday afternoon.