High School Rugby Updates – March 2025

In Touch Newsletter Issue 2 – Covering High School Rugby on Vancouver Island and British Columbia

Phil Smith has come up with a great resource for high school rugby on the Island and in BC. It’s a newsletter “Covering High School Rugby on Vancouver Island and British Columbia”. We’ve included a link below to download the full .pdf version which is formatted and includes photos. We’ve also copied some of the text below for a quick read. His contact information is in the .pdf and he’s looking for story ideas for the next issue.

Download In Touch – Issue 2 in .pdf

Games This Week

Tuesday March 11:

Brentwood College @ Royal Bay (juniors)
Claremont @ SMUS (seniors)
Shawnigan @ Quw’utsun (juniors and seniors)

Power Rankings March 8

1. Shawnigan
2. Oak Bay
3. Quw’utsun
4. Claremont
5. Brentwood

Have news or a story idea? Contact Phil Smith at philip.smith@brentwood.ca

Brentwood (5) at Oak Bay (31)

Three Stars:
★★★ Jasper Keith (Oak Bay)
★★ Olivier Balek (Brentwood)
★ Robert Reed (Oak Bay)

Under overcast conditions on a heavy pitch, the bruising Barbs dispatched Brentwood College 31-5.
While Oak Bay looked bigger and more athletic, Brentwood’s defence was resolute and they
absorbed a significant amount of pressure in the early stages. In particular, flanker Nick Delasalle
rebuffed Barbs #8 Robert Reed effectively at the back of the scrum, and flyhalf Shunsuke Nakatani
was up quick and courageous in the backline. Brentwood’s effective defence combined with some
sloppy Oak Bay handling to keep things scoreless for the first 20 minutes of the game. Unfortunately
for Brentwood, through careless errors their attack squandered any possession that their strong
defence gave them, and the educated boot of Oak Bay flyhalf Mike Oughtred kept them hemmed deep
in their own end. Eventually, their defence broke on the back of strong running from Barbs midfielder
Jasper Keith. They added another try before the oranges.

The second half was more of the same, though Brentwood made some forays into the Oak Bay end
through more effective tip-balls by their forwards and strong running from number 8 Olivier Balek.
However, bullocking runs by Robert Reed resulted in more tries for the home side. Brentwood did get
on the scoreboard after some poor rucking and clearing by Oak Bay on their own goal line, and
Brentwood livewire Cole Curtis-Chesters pounced on a loose ball to score.

Oak Bay will be happy for a reasonably routine win but will look closely at refining their attack to
eliminate some errors. For Brentwood, they will be encouraged by the toughness they showed (the
hardest thing to coach) and will look forward to welcoming back their backline talisman Julian
Bishop when he returns from Basketball Provincials.

Robert Bateman at Shawnigan

Three Stars:
★★★ DJ Banks (Shawnigan)
★★ Ben Bjorndal (Bateman)
★ Georges Gave (Shawnigan)

The strong rugby school from Abbotsford travelled to Shawnigan under clear skies on Friday and
competed well, but eventually succumbed 15-36 to the Stags. Opting to play three 20-minute periods,
the visitors looked full of vim early on and benefitted greatly from the powerful boot of
Bateman midfielder Riley MacDonald, who pinned Shawnigan in their own half for long spells. To their
credit, the home side found ways through the Bateman defence, notably through fullback Tomás
Klassen, who showed his Latin flair on several occasions and scored a long-range try. Also DJ
Banks, who started at prop last year before moving to number 8 then to the midfield, looked dangerous
every time he had the ball; indeed, he has the ability to step off both feet while keeping his hips
square, which allows him to scythe through gaps. Also dangerous was flanker Greg Putterill, a Haida
Gwaii native who was new to the school but made a big impression. “We’re going to bury them,” he
said to his teammates at practice on Thursday. On Friday, he brought a shovel to the changing sheds.

For Bateman, they looked very comfortable hoeing into the Shawnigan pack, and will be frustrated that
some ill-timed errors snuffed out some chances. Their best player was Ben Bjorndal, who on one
occasion skied above his opponents to snatch his own team’s kickoff in a feat of dazzling athleticism,
which was outdone only by his long-range try finished by a one-armed slamming of the ball onto
the chalk dust. With a string of Grade 11s who won the Provincial Championships last year, Bateman
will be contenders at the business end of the season.

Alberni (0) at Quw’utsun (50)

Three Stars:
★★★ Max Lang (Quw’utsun)
★★ Tanner Evans (Alberni)
★ Trace Barrack (Quw’utsun)

Quw’utsun showed their firepower against a young Alberni side in their opening game. Strong play
from dominant athlete Max Lang and organizer Trace Barrack ensured the Thunderbirds had plenty
of time and space, and score several tries from long range. Alberni played with guts, even when the
score edged upwards, with flanker Tanner Evans making a huge amount of tackles on a day when
they were doing most of the defending. Quw’utsun will be eager to test themselves against perennial
champs Shawnigan next week, while Alberni will regroup before hitting things after Spring Break.

Mt Doug (0) at Claremont (26)

Three Stars:
★★★ Owen Duncan (Claremont)
★★ Miles Scott (Mt Doug)
★ Ewan Gardiner (Claremont)

Claremont rolled up their sleeves and grinded out a win against a very physical Mt Doug side. They
scored three tries in the first half as Mt Doug were still figuring out some organization pieces, through
strong play from prop Ewan Gardiner and silky fullback Owen Duncan. In the second half, Mt Doug
tightened things up considerably which, along with the heavy conditions, made for a real arm wrestle.
For Mt Doug, outside centre Miles Scott looked dangerous and tackled well, and they will be
encouraged by how well they competed against a traditionally strong team. Claremont will be happy
to get the points and will turn their attention to SMUS, who will provide a more nuanced attack
when they play next Wednesday.

Island Boys First XV Stars
Competition Leaderboard
March 8

Player         Stars
Jasper Keith  (OB) 3
Owen Duncan   (Cla) 3
Max Lang      (QU) 3
DJ Banks      (SLS) 3
Olivier Balek (BCS) 2
Ben Bjorndal  (Bat) 2
Miles Scott   (MtD) 2
Tanner Evans  (ADSS) 2

Short Lineout

One person’s opinion, expressed succinctly

School matches should be 70 minutes in
duration. This used to be the case, and no one
can tell me why this was changed.

–Phil Smith