A strong outing at Scrumfest last Friday and Saturday led to a fourth-place finish at the Island Sevens on Sunday for Cowichan Secondary's senior boys rugby team.
The Thunderbirds finished Scrumfest at Claremont with a 3-1 record, their lone defeat coming at the hands of a visiting Australian side.
On Friday, Cowichan beat Stelly's 15-0 on tries by Joseph Pimenta, Kyle Joe and Kaine Dreaver, then topped Spectrum 17-7 on tries by Dreaver, Eddy Walt and Ethan Burke and a conversion by Joe.
On Saturday, the T-Birds beat Chilliwack's G.W. Graham 12-0 on tries by Walt and Ben Iwasyk and another conversion by Joe, then lost 24-10 to Australia's Somerset College with tries from Burke and Iwasyk.
Burke was named a tournament all-star. "A great tournament, highlighted by terrific
defence," Cowichan coach Ron Glass said. "Coach Craig Lauridsen needs special recognition with his terrific work with the forwards and their improved scrummaging and lineout work" At Sunday's Island Sevens, Cowichan got off to a bad start with a 49-0 loss to Oak Bay, but bounced back with a 19-12 win over G.P. Vanier on tries by Burke, Amish Dobson and Seth Davis and two conversions by Joe.
The T-Birds kept the momentum going with a 34-0 win over Mt. Douglas on tries by Burke, Davis, Dreaver, Walt, Jared Champoux and Josh Jones and two more conversions by Joe. Cowichan bowed to Brentwood 21-12 in the battle for third and fourth, getting tries from Dreaver and Dobson. Davis was named a tournament all-star.
Cowichan and Brentwood both move on to the provincial sevens tournament at UBC on April 26 and 27.