Eagle Impact Rugby Academy’s boys U18s and U16s went 0-4 in British Columbia this weekend.
The U18s were served a slice of humble pie by a very good BC Bears side. In Game 1 on Thursday they were guilty of being a bit frantic and perhaps not playing good team rugby in the attacking zone. That resulted in several long-range tries for BC after the Bears turned it over, and, eventually a 53-0 win for the hosts.
“We did a lot of good things but the last pass, and the composure to finish were what hurt us,” said Head Coach Tim Kluempers. “We addressed some things out of that game and really the message was, win or lose, how do we respond?”
In Game 2 on Saturday EIRA at least got some points on the board, losing 53-8.
“We played a lot better and had better set pieces,” said Kluempers. “But again we had good moments but just could not finish.”
The U16s battled somewhat closer. In Thursday’s game EIRA lost 20-8 and put BC under pressure at times.
On Saturday, they lost a nailbiter 24-22. EIRA were held up in-goal four times, which was a frustration for the U16s.
But it was a good, close game and showed some improvement for the U16 team. Head Coach Jeff Bonnett said a hot weekend in Vancouver kind of sapped his players late and British Columbia was "pretty much mistake-free."
