BC Rugby Playoffs Begin This Weekend in Men’s Div 1 and Women’s Premier: Last Weekend of Regular Season for Men’s Premier
[ed. note that times and locations based on BCRU fixtures page at time of writing.]
Our normal prediction article with rosters and predictions for the men’s Premier will come out tomorrow as usual but we thought we’d take a look at the playoff picture for the men’s Div 1 and women’s Premier today.
Note there is a men’s Premier game on Friday evening this weekend, Pacific Pride v UVic, 6pm at Starlight Stadium.
Men’s Div 1
This should be an interesting weekend in the men’s Div 1 (Premier Reserve). The top 8 Div 1 teams will face the top 8 Premier Reserve teams in a group of 16 that will be pared down to the quarter-finals the following weekend (April 15th, no rugby over Easter weekend).
These are the matchups.
Game 1: Burnaby Lake RFC vs. Axemen Rugby Club @ Burnaby Lake (12:45)
Game 2: Nanaimo Hornets vs. UBC Thunderbirds @ May Bennett Pioneer (14:30)
Game 3: Port Alberni Black Sheep vs. James Bay AA @ Port Alberni [defaulted by JBAA]
Game 4: Meraloma vs. Kelowna Crows RFC @ Klahanie (12:45)
Game 5: Langley Rugby Club vs. UVIC @ Crush Crescent (13:30)
Game 6: UBCOB Ravens vs. Bayside Sharks RFC @ Brockton Oval (12:45)
Game 7: Castaway Wanderers vs. Surrey Beavers @ Windsor Park (12:45)
Game 8: Abbotsford RFC vs. Westshore RFC @ Exhibition Park (11:00)
The top 4 Div 1 sides, Abbotsford, Port Alberni, Langley and Nanaimo will host the bottom 4 sides of the Premier Reserve Westshore, James Bay, UVic and UBC. The top 4 Premier Reserve sides Burnaby, Ravens, Meraloma, CW will host the bottom 4 sides from Div 1 Squamish, Bayside, Kelowna and Surrey.
The winners will play in the quarter-finals with the highest seeded teams hosting in the format Winner of Game 1 v Game 2, Game 3 v Game 4, Game 5 v Game 6, Game 7 v Game 8.
Women’s Premier
In the women’s Premier, the top 2 sides UBC and Westshore get a bye this week and will host semi-final matches on April 15th. This weekend it will be Capilano hosting CW (12:45) and Burnaby hosting Seattle (14:30). The winner of Caps v CW will visit UBC on the 15th and the winner of Burnaby v Seattle will visit Westshore.