Spartans blank Drillers

By Tyler Lowey, Times Reporter

The defence showed up and backstopped the Strathmore High School Spartans guys’ squad to their first win of the Big Sky rugby season.
The Oilfields High School Drillers controlled much of the clock in the first half May 9 at the Strathmore High School field but couldn’t find a crack in the Spartan’s back wall.
“It was great to see that relentless effort from our guys,” said Spartans Head Coach Brad Steele. “It’s difficult to throw your body into other players over and over again. We had a number of players making multiple tackles. We hit them, they didn’t hit us.”
The Drillers tried plunging through the Spartans with long runs right up the gut of the field but couldn’t get one across.
The Spartans stingy defence opened the door for their offence that exploded in the second half.
The Drillers chewed up so much of the clock in the first half that the Spartans only carried a 7-0 lead into the intermission.
When the teams came back out for the second half, the Spartans capitalized on the open space with some quick runs out wide.
“Normally, if we score four tries, we have a pretty good chance to win any game,” said Steele. “We had six tries and converted on a pair of them which was great to see and more than enough for the win.”
With the short rugby season already winding down, Steele was impressed by the dominating performance last week, but still knows there is some work that needs to take place to turn this team into a threat for zones.
“We can’t let teams possess the ball as long as we allowed Oilfields to carry the ball,” said Steele. “We need to do a better job in countering our rucks and steal the ball more on defence.”
The Spartans were slated to play their final home game of the season May 16 against the W.X. Croxford High School Cavaliers. Instead, the Spartans will take on the West Island College Wolves at the Calgary Rugby Union in Calgary.
The girls’ program didn’t receive the same defensive effort against the Drillers in their meeting May 9 in Strathmore.
The Drillers led 10-0 at half time thanks to another ball-dominating performance.
“They retained the ball really well. They rucked really well and kept us on our heels in the first half,” said Spartans Head Coach Jerry Flaws. “We kept giving the ball back to them and couldn’t gain any momentum.”
A late surge saw the Spartans cash in a pair of tries, but eventually they ran out of time, ending the comeback and handing them a 15-10 loss.
The Spartans took on the Banff Community High School Bears May 15 in Canmore and will wrap up the week with a home game May 17 at home against the Highwood High School Mustangs. The game is slated to start at 5 p.m.