New champs in town
Rugrats down Panthers, snap Glace Bay’s four-year championship streak
GLACE BAY — As the final whistle sounded, Madison MacInnis and Barbel Weigel knew they had accomplished something special.
The Riverview Rugrats players had captured the Highland region girls’ rugby championship title, defeating the Glace Bay Panthers 7-5 in the league final at Hub Field in Glace Bay on Wednesday.
As the two players celebrated with their teammates and coaches, they couldn’t take the smile off their faces, considering the win snapped the four-year championship reign held by the Glace Bay school.
“Since I started rugby, one of my biggest goals was to win the regionals and I’m so happy I could captain this team to a title,” said MacInnis, with a blanket wrapped over her shoulder.
“Glace Bay is a tough competitor, but we gave it our all and we came here determined to win and that’s what we did.”
Despite playing under sun and blue skies, the contest had its challenges for players on both teams.
A number of large puddles formed in the middle of the field and saw no shortage of players falling, along with windy conditions.
The Panthers led the contest 5-0 thanks to a Kelsie MacDonald try, but the Rugrats would tie the game late in the second half with MacInnis’ try, before Weigel completed a conversion to give Riverview the lead and eventually the victory.
“It was rough and cold out there, but we pulled it off and came out with the victory,” said Weigel, an international student from the Netherlands.
“This was my first time playing the sport this season and it’s not very big in Europe, so I decided to try it because it looked cool and it was really fun.”
The Cape Breton High School Rugby girls’ league featured four teams this season including the Rugrats, Panthers, Sydney Academy Wildcats and Breton Education Centre Bears.