The good news for the Eagle Impact Rugby Academy team is that what was essentially the same group as the HS All Americans in Las Vegas, played better at the Victoria 7s; the bad news is, they lost the final anyway, losing 31-26 in overtime against British Columbia.

“The boys played really well,” said Coach Salty Thompson. “I am really proud of their effort. We didn’t play well in the semifinal against the Upright Rugby Rogues. It was a scrap, very combative at the breakdown. We were a bit rushed and gave away some points, but found a way to win. In the final, they played really well.”

Ian Crilly put the EIRA team ahead with a well-taken try, and EIRA looked the stronger team early on. 

“Kickoffs were an issue with us in Vegas, and we did a better job there,” said Thompson. 

Rucks were an issue throughout the tournament and it was certainly scrappy around the breakdowns. BC handled it a little better and took the lead. Crilly scored another, but then so did BC, and the Canadian team led 26-14 with just over three minutes to go.

At that point Deion Mikesell got a yellow card for dangerous play (trying to dislodge a ball hr hit a BC player in the head). It all seemed like it would fall away.

But, said captain Aaron Matthews, “this team is a little different from the group in Vegas. We bonded a lot faster than we did in Vegas and we had a different chemistry. We were still pretty confident.”

So they weathered Mikesell’s time off, and then Mikesell scored a try to make it 26-19.

Nathaniel Short was brought on to provide a spark at halfback, and he did, racing in for a try and converting it to tie the game at 26-26.

But after a long weekend and a long final, the overtime proved too much and BC exploited some EIRA injuries that slowed the team, and scored the winner in overtime.

“To come from 12 points down to tie it after that yellow card showed a lot of heart,” said Thompson. “As EIRA’s first run-out as a performance program, we set a fairly high bar. We loved coming here and playing BC and Upright and the other teams. This was a good event for us.”

“It was tough to lose in the final, but I thought this tournament was better than Las Vegas,” added Matthews. “All of the teams are good. BC had three teams and they are all really good. Every game was tough.”