Spartans battle for first boy’s rugby South Central Zone title

By Tyler Lowey, Times Reporter

The Strathmore High School Spartans are gunning for their first South Central Zone title in boys’ rugby in school history.
The title game took place May 31 (result not available as of press time) at the Calgary Rugby Union, when the Spartans took on the Bow Valley High School Bobcats for an automatic bid into provincials.
The Spartans previously competed at the provincial level twice, most recently last season, when they hosted the event. The only other time they made the trip to the provincial level was the first time they hosted the tournament.
“Earning a banner and winning our way into provincials would be a huge sense of pride for the school and the boys on this team. Anytime you can add a banner to the walls of the gym is always a big deal,” said Spartans assistant coach Tim Popel. “It would be a great sense of accomplishment.”
If the Spartans made school history May 31, they would have the comfort of knowing they could sleep in their own beds during provincials, as the big tournament is set to take place June 8 and 9 at the Calgary Rugby Union.
But before that takes place, the Spartans still had to earn their way into the zone title game and ran into a pretty tough opponent in the Springbank Community High School Phoenix May 23 at the Calgary Rugby Union.
The Spartans used their fresh legs to outrun the Phoenix in the second half and battled their way to the 46-26 victory.
The Phoenix team wasn’t the only thing standing in the way of the Spartans and a trip to the zone finals. The wind also kept the ball pinned deep in the Spartan zone for the first half.
Controlling the ball for the majority of the first half, the Phoenix pressed the Spartans into their own zone. Even though they only pushed across one try in the first half, they kept using the wind to aid kicks deep down near the Spartan try-line.
“They were playing us tough and were down in our end for much of the first half,” said Popel. “You’ve got to give our defence credit for standing tall and keeping them out as often as they did.”
A pair of long runs following possession changes turned the fortunes for the Spartans, as they raced the ball out of their end and touched down three tries, to enter half time up 15-5.
“We were really pleased with the score at half. I thought it was a better score than we could have hoped for given everything that took place,” said Popel. “We really liked the way our team looked and now had a chance to play downhill with the wind at our backs in the second half.”
The momentum carried over into the second half, where teams exchanged tries a couple times and the Phoenix cut the lead down to eight, when they made it 34-26.
Runs up the gut and to the outside by the Spartans nullified any hopes of a Phoenix comeback, as they pulled into the fast lane and left Springbank in the dust, en route to the comfortable 20-point victory.
“Our ball movement was great in the second half, which led to a couple really big runs,” said Popel. “Then, when we turned the ball over, we were able to put a stop to their drives with some excellent rucking. The boys played a really great game.”
Having laid waste to the Phoenix, it was the Bobcats that stood in front of the Spartans and a chance at the school’s first boy’s rugby zone banner.
The two teams never faced off this year, but the Bobcats are perennially a strong team and knocked off the Spartans in the zone final last year.
“We like the skill we have with our team right now,” said Popel. “We are playing well, and I think we have a good shot at this thing. It’s not every year you are rolling at the right time, so I hope we can take advantage and keep this thing going.”
The Spartan girls’ program will play out their season with exhibition games and not participate in a zone or provincial tournament.