A little bit of everything
good off-season as well to complement their solid start last year. So lots of players up front will feature for us.
“In the back line, we’re kind of revamped a little bit. We changed some players to some new positions and welcomed some new ones in.”
Five members of the Pronghorns had a fine tune up over the summer with a Canadian U20 Championship title in Saskatoon in late July.
Keegan Brantner, Sara Cline, Sydney De La Mare, Charlie Mitchell and Sears suited up with the Alberta Wolf Pack, who beat Team Quebec 26-20 in the gold medal game.
“It was a good experience for me,” said Brantner, a third-year lock from Taber. “I played on the Wolfpack team for five summers now and this is the first time we’ve won the national championship, so that was a good feeling to be a part of that winning team.”
That will spill nicely into the coming season as the Horns look to build off a 2-2 campaign in 2017 that also saw the team host the U SPORTS National Championship in November.
“I think for all of them it just affirms to them of the level of play they know they have,” said Langevin. “They can compete internationally and nationally and it really does help out their confidence going forward into this year.”
It begins Sunday with the season opener and the Suggitt Cup, named after former Pronghorns rugby head coach Ric Suggitt who passed away last summer.
“With the league change we get two more games,” said Langevin. “Now the Suggitt Cup becomes a two-game series, so we’re really looking forward to that. So Sept. 22 the Suggitt Cup will be awarded here. So we’re really looking forward to that day and spending some time with the Suggitt family.”
The added games now gives the Horns six regular season matches.
“We’ve been trying to get more games,” said Langevin. “Now we have guaranteed two home games, so we’ll play a home and away with both of the other Alberta schools, Calgary (Dinos) and Alberta. So it gives us six games and a full
season, which means earlier start for us. There are some challenges that we’ve gone through just being prepared to play this early.”
For their part, McKee and Brantner are ready to go.
“As we practise more I get more and more excited,” said McKee. “I think as a team, when we work together that's when were the strongest. It’s not about individuals or anything. It's about working together as one whole unit. I’m excited for this weekend. I’m ready to see what we have in store for the Pandas.”
“I played rugby all summer and lots of games, but I’m excited to get back in playing with our Pronghorns family,” added Brantner. “It’s exciting to start off playing the U of A for the Suggitt Cup. It’s really important for us to win the cup.”
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