The Washington Loggers U14 State rep-side played the British Columbia Representative XV on Saturday, August 10, at the ChuckanutRugby Grounds, near Bellingham, Wash. 

Against Young BC, the Loggers claimed a 41-17 victory — though the scoreline slightly favored the Washington side, with a fierce back-and-forth exchange in the 2nd period. The two sides were evidently committed to open, running rugby. Despite the physical upfront encounters expected in a cross-border match, the teams demonstrated the elevated skills, communication and fitness needed at the representative level.  

Photos by Dennis Cairns

After a series of training sessions, and a successful (55-12) June 9 match against the Oregon Redhawks, the Loggers side featured players broadly selected from Seattle Vikings, ChuckanutBay, Liberty, Rainier Highlanders, Panthers, West Seattle, Eastside Lions and The Mountain Lions. 

Elias Tasi(Chuckanut) was a physical presence, with Dylan Lugar running fast, productive lines of support from fullback. Nicholas Davis (Lions) and Jacob Sio ran rampant for the Loggers, while Noah Kynaston(Castaway Wanderers RFC) and Amir Gill (Bayside Sharks) won match honors for BC. 

“This is now a very promising pool of young players,” said David Miller, Washington Loggers Director. “They’ve responded exceptionally well to intensive development, shared by 11 highly qualified coaches at training intervals over the past 6 months."

While the Loggers win avenges a narrow loss to BC last summer, these fixtures reflect a new orientation in regional development:  “We’ve observed that the rise of ‘elite’ rugby has focused too much on cutting players, too young, when long-term development should at the center of our local and national agenda,” said Miller. “We’re committed to keep interested young players growing, included in a positive, no-cost, high performance training environment — that allows us to select players into emerging match opportunities based on their continuous improvement.”

In March the Loggers Boys U18 won the Vancouver 7s Cup, and lost a narrow 45-31 decision against the BC Representative XV in late July, in Vancouver.  “The healthy relationships we’ve established in British Columbia are giving our boys and girls fantastic exposure to ‘international’ rugby right next door.”  

The Loggers and BC resume their match series in spring 2020. 

2019 Washington Loggers U14 

KoleMadsen- Eastside Lions

KylerHershberger- Eastside 

Benjamin Delport- Mountain Lions

Jamie Brooks - Liberty (C) 

Jason Retz- ChuckanutBay Rugby Club

Elias Tasi- ChuckanutBay

Joseph Chambers - Panthers 

Chance Loudenback- Seattle Vikings

RJ Schrimpsher- Rainier Highlanders 

Jacob Sio - Eastside 

Daniel Lopez - ChuckanutBay 

MaximillianRhodes - Eastside 

Nicholas Davis - Eastside

DevynSmith - ChuckanutBay 

Dylan Lugar - Liberty

KaleoKennerley- ChuckanutBay

Samuel Brulotte- ChuckanutBay

Kieran O’Meara- West Seattle

Noah Clark - Eastside

Wesley Tucker - ChuckanutBay

Victor Gervol- ChuckanutBay 

Connor Nel - Eastside

Dylan Petteys- Seattle Vikings Rugby

KellenEskridge- Eastside Lions

Seamus Twohey- Liberty 

 

2019 British Columbia U14 Representative XV

Owen Barlow – James Bay AA (Victoria)

Matthew Bennet – St Michaels University School (Victoria)

Manuel Boada– Abbotsford RFC (Abbotsford)

Anthony Carroll – ValleyviewSecondary (Kamloops)

Aidan Chaney – Castaway Wanderers RFC (Victoria)

Malachi Freh– Kelowna Crows RFC (West Kelowna)

Amir Gill – Bayside Sharks RFC (Surrey)

JhyeGraffi– St Michaels University School (Victoria)

Josh Granville – Burnaby Lake RC (Port Coquitlam)

Carter Haddow– WestshoreRFC (Victoria)

Adam Irvine – G.P VanierSecondary School (Courtenay)

Noah Kynaston– Castaway Wanderers RFC (Victoria )

Malcolm Lotz– CapilanoRFC (West Vancouver)

ThorsonNoble – Bayside Sharks RFC (Victoria)

Jackson Palmer – Castaway Wanderers RFC (Victoria)

Hudson Poppitt– James BayAA(Victoria)

Michael Riedke– Journey Middle School (Sooke)

Cameron Roper – Kelowna Crows RFC (West Kelowna)

Triton Smith – Burnaby Lake RFC (Burnaby)

Sammy Srobotnjak– BryneCreek (Burnaby)