Four Pontiac High School (PHS) rugby teams continued Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) league play last Thursday in what was the school’s first tournament of the year on home soil.
Two boys’ and two girls’ teams from PHS hosted regional opponents from Philemon Wright and D’Arcy McGee high schools, playing three games each at the Shawville pitch that counted toward league standings.
Teams played sevens rugby, featuring seven players on the pitch for each team. Contrary to fifteens, which can be a slower game, sevens is a faster, more open style of rugby, and is the style played in the RSEQ.
All four PHS teams faced off against each other to start the day’s action. On the girls’ side, the Pontiac 1 team defeated Pontiac 2 by a score of 31-10, while on the boys’ side it was Pontiac 1 who eked out a 17-7 win over Pontiac 2. Teams played games until they had played each opponent once.
Girls’ head coach Phil Holmes said his players have performed admirably this season after getting off to a rough start. He said his players travelled to Smiths Falls, Ont. for a day of exhibition games in 15-a-side rugby, adding that the teams lost the games quite handily.
“I think the score was 250 points for the Smiths Falls team and five points for us,” Holmes said, adding that those games prompted his players to work harder to improve their skills.
“They said, ‘Let’s practice all winter so we can get better and be like them, which was a great way to respond,” he said, adding that players attended 7 a.m. practices twice a week. “That loss really motivated them.”
Holmes said a handful of Grade 7s have been great additions to the roster this year, and have stepped up as a “dominant force” on the pitch for his team. He said he is hoping to grow efforts to introduce the sport to feeder schools as a way of developing a grassroots program.
As of Monday, the Pontiac 1 team sat undefeated in girls’ league play with four wins and zero losses. The Pontiac 2 team had three wins and one loss.
In boys’ league play, Pontiac 2 sat in third place with two wins and two losses, while Pontiac 1 had only one win versus three losses.
The teams will travel to Philemon Wright for a final tournament before the league finals this Sunday at D’Arcy McGee. The girls are looking for a four-peat, after a PHS team has won the league in each of the past three seasons.
