High school rugby provincials start today in Pictou County
The best high school rugby teams in Nova Scotia will converge on Pictou County this weekend to decide provincial champions in both the boys and girls divisions. The NRHS Nighthawks will host the boys provincial tournament, while the girls team at North Nova will hope to capture a title on their home turf.
“We’ll be getting the whole school out and there’ll be lots of fans,” Nighthawks co-captain Reed MacDonald said this week, after his team won the regional banner after beating NNEC, who will be defending their 2016 championship.
“The boys play well under pressure, I think it’ll be awesome. It was great to win (regionals), but the boys gotta keep their heads on. It’s going to be a lot different this week and we need to keep that mentality.”
The Gryphons lost the 2016 regional championship against NRHS, but fought their way to a Nova Scotia title in spite of that.
“Last year we were in the same boat, and came home with a provincial banner,” captain Bailey MacDonald said, as he faced the final days of his high school rugby career.
At North Nova, the girls’ side held a Thursday practice, a final tuneup before they open Friday. The Gryphons didn’t make it this far a year ago, losing in a regional final to the CEC Cougars.
“We had a strong season,”
said coach Dougal MacInnis.
“Our team is young. We’ve got five seniors, but this group is pretty much the same team as last year. It’s anybody’s tournament
– that’s why they play the games.”
Katie Pentz, a Gryphons cocaptain along with Paige MacDonald, said it will help that
the home fans will be out to lend their support and that being able to sleep in their own beds “helps, too,” she added.
“We’ve got to play it game by game and see how it goes. It’s going to be a good weekend, but we’re really happy to be hosting.”