Conditions allowed the Cowichan Piggies to play the kind of rugby they wanted to, and they pulled off a 46-19 win over Castaway Wanderers at Piggy Park on Saturday.
“It was a dry day and overcast, so we got to use our speed out wide,” Cowichan head coach Andrew Wright said.
The Piggies jumped out to a 19-0 lead in the first 25 minutes on tries by Peyton Eagar, Alucious Gray and Drew McCarthy, with two conversions by Jenner Teufel. After Castaways got on the board with an unconverted try, the Piggies got another from Eagar, which Teufel converted, and Teufel added a try of his own, and Cowichan was ahead 31-5 at halftime.
In the second half, Gray added his second of the game, Teufel slotted a penalty goal, and Amish Dobson also scored, while Castaways responded with 14 points of their own.
The win was a triumph for Cowichan’s young players. McCarthy, Eagar, Dobson and Gray are all playing their first full seasons of senior men’s rugby after coming up through the club’s junior programs and local high schools.
“It’s good to see them getting on the board before the end of the season,” Wright said. “The time they’ve been putting in is paying off.”
The Piggies will head to Langford to play Westshore this Saturday.
“We haven’t been down there since we won the cup there last spring,” Wright noted. “It should be an interesting battle of boys and men down there.”
The Piggies can still make the Island First Division playoffs if they win this weekend and James Bay beats Castaway Wanderers.
“We’re planning on a win, and hoping James Bay can beat CW,” Wright said. “Then we can keep playing rugby for another week or two.”