Youth, and a win, served at the LRC
The Lethbridge Rugby Club men’s Division II team is undergoing a youth movement.
During the team’s 41-12 win over the Calgary Irish during Calgary Rugby Union action Saturday afternoon at the Lethbridge Rugby Club, some of that youth got moving to help the team to an early 2-1 record.
Making his LRC debut, Winston Churchill product Bariyaa Ipaa broke off a tackle and found some space down the sideline for a try in the final minute of the first half.
The Irish answered back with two tries in the final half, but it wasn’t enough to overtake the LRC or spoil Ipaa’s big debut.
“I just signed up yesterday, this is my first day playing. It was really good,” said Ipaa.
Late in the first half, the new LRC member made a fine impression with the try that gave Lethbridge some extra breathing room heading into the half, fighting off an Irish tackler to get into the end zone.
“I found some room and I thought he was going to push me out,” said Ipaa. “He hit me, but I saw I was still in and had some room. So I just went for it.”
Three games into their 2017 campaign, the LRC has a few other young guns to go to now as well.
“We have more guys in that age range of 18-22 than we’ve had in several years,” said LRC head coach Nevin Morrison. “It’s a positive thing going forward when it’s not just the same old guys doing the same thing. Now we know we have these guys coming in from high school and this is a jump up in terms of level. The good news is we have a bunch of old guys who have played for 20 years and you know what you’re getting from them and they’re probably not going to make huge improvements through the year. But with the young group we have here, we’re starting here and we’re going to keep moving up. There’s lots of opportunity to grow and become a really good team by the end of the year.”
On Saturday, the LRC got back in the win column and back above the .500 mark following a loss last weekend.
A quick start Saturday afternoon proved key even if Calgary was able to close the gap a bit in the second half.
“We looked pretty good, especially right from the start of the game,” said Morrison. “Our first try came after five or six phases. We did well there. I thought for the most part we controlled the play, built pressure and were able to get a comfortable lead.
“There was one little letdown near the end of the game. At the 20-minute mark we had a little letdown in terms of you sometimes get that comfortable lead and take your foot off the gas a little bit. But once we did give up a couple of tries, it seems like we realized it wasn’t over yet and went back to work and scored a few tries down the stretch.”
The LRC are on the road next weekend when they head to Calgary on Saturday to face the Saracens.
The LRC women’s team are also in Calgary that day to face the Saints, while the Division III team is at home to take on the Calgary Knights at noon at the Lethbridge Rugby Club.
In the women’s game, the LRC were defeated 40-15 by the Irish.