The Gold comes home

Times Contributors 

 

The Zone Two Big Country rugby team captured the gold medal at the Alberta Summer Games this past weekend. 

The team consisted of players from Springbank, Okotoks, High River, Chestermere and Strathmore. Carter Jones (15) and Jade Ballance (16) were the Zone Two representatives from Strathmore.

“I was nervous going in,” said Ballance. “It was really fast paced.”

“I wasn’t sure going in, how the team would do. I really didn’t expect what happened,” said Jones.

It is the first year on the team for both girls, who also play on the high school rugby team. In the summer games, they play seven-players-a-side rugby, a style that will be introduced at the next Summer Olympics. The game has many similarities to the normal game, which consists of 15 players per side, but with half the players on the field. The tempo of the game is much faster. This style of game suits the two Strathmore athletes.  They are two of the quicker players on the Spartans rugby team. 

Jones scored seven tries for a total of 35 points and Ballance wasn’t far behind with five tries and 25 points. Jones played back and said her strengths were ball handling and speed; Ballance thought her forward position profited from her skill at running the ball.

“I like tackling best,” said Jones about the game. “I am very competitive and I don’t like the other team to run with the ball.”

On the final try (goal), Jones was out with a concussion, but when the game was over, she said all the girls ran out and hugged each other and cried.

“It was the toughest game ever, but the glory will last forever,” said Jones.

The coaching staff, of Sophie Martin and Jerry Flaws, were very impressed with the girls play and how quickly they were able to learn the game. With only five practices, it was a quick learning curve, but the girls rose to the challenge and captured the gold medal. 

“The two girls played extremely well and were a big part of the team’s success,” said Flaws.

Game Highlights

The ZoneTwo rugby team had practiced only five times and had never played seven-a-side before the summer games. Their first game was a true learning experience, but they were able pull off a tie against the Zone Four team from Red Deer. 

In the second game of the day against Zone Eight, they played amazingly and put up a tournament high of 59 points, which is an impressive feat considering they only play seven-minute halves. 

They played Zone Six, in the last of the pools games, and needed to produce another impressive score to ensure the upper hand in the tiebreak against Zone Four. The girls responded with a 46-point victory giving them top spot in their pool.

In the semi-final, they played against Zone Five, which surrounds Edmonton. The girls came out of the gate quickly, scoring in the first minute of the game. Carter Jones scored on 50m run after breaking the first tackle. Shortly after that, Jade picked up a short pass and dove into the try zone for the score. The Zone Two team went on to a 26-12 victory setting up a rematch against Zone Four, who they tied in their first game. After two days of grueling rugby, in 30-plus degree weather, the athlete’s reward was a video dance party that all 2,600 athletes were to attend. 

The finals played Sunday, with 10-minute halves because it would be their only game of the next day. From the onset, you knew this was going to be a good game.

The evenly matched teams fought for every inch of the field. Zone Two scored first but missed the conversion giving them a five-point lead. With a minute left in the half, they gave up a try. With the game tied early in the second half, Zone Two was on a breakaway, about to score, when the winger was pulled down by the shirt collar. She would have scored if the penalty didn’t take place. They gained a penalty try and the kicker converted it. The last four minutes seemed to take forever. Zone Four was able to score but were forced to the outside, leading to an attempted conversion from the sideline which was missed. With the ball fed into the scrum by Zone Two, all they needed was a stoppage in play to end the game. They won the scrum, but the ball came out sloppily and they were unable to get the break in play they needed and consequently turned the ball over. Zone Four handled the ball inside the 22-meter line for over a minute, before committing a handling error, the whistle blew,  ending the game.