Big day at Co-op Field
Ruggers of all ages get their day in Canada Day matchup
It’s a ruggers delight Saturday in Charlottetown.
Four games are set for Co-op Field, highlighted by two Nova Scotia Senior Rugby League contests.
The main event begins with the Charlottetown Rugby Football Club women hosting the Halifax Tars in a Tier A matchup at 1 p.m. The Hunter’s Ale House Mudmen cap the day versus the Halifax Tars in a men’s Division A entanglement at 3:30 p.m.
The P.E.I. under-18 men’s and women’s squads play earlier in the morning.
A Division B game between the Tars and the Mudmen, originally scheduled for Saturday at Co-op, was moved to Sunday, July 16, because the Tars Division B team is battling injury problems.
Men
It’s a weird place for the Mudmen to start this season after a campaign-opening loss last week to Belleisle.
Weird as in the Mudmen club is unaccustomed to losing, especially a close defeat in the final minutes, said Phil Gallant, longtime Mudmen player and organizer.
“We had a heart-breaker losing 24-23 on the final kick of the game. A game where we led the entire game and seemed to have full control. Penalty trouble let Belleisle in the game, where their scrum half made a gamewinning kick from the corner with no time left,” said Gallant
in an email interview. “We played well, but had some holes in our game.
“We were disappointed to start the season with a loss, but we are confident we can correct our mistakes and bounce back.”
That was an Elite Division matchup so the Mudmen sit 0-1 in that circuit.
Saturday is a Division A tussle, where the Mudmen are 0-0, but nothing comes easy, said Gallant, as the squad is fighting the injury bug. Still, he’s optimistic.
“We are battling some key losses this week with our starting standoff Brodie Macdonald and starting eight-man Kyle Robertson out with injuries. All-star prop Alex Forrest is also unavailable this weekend,” said Gallant. “It is a challenge, but we are excited for the return of the dynamic Fitzpatrick twins, Aaron and Adam, returning to the Mudmen. There are a lot of young standouts stepping up with the club in Sheldon Cudmore and Issac Kirkland.”
Women
So far so good for the fledgling Charlottetown Rugby Football Club after a 2-0 start in league play.
Last week it thumped Enfield 78-19, just seven days after destroying the Truro Saints 1050.
Saturday, it looks to go 3-0 against the Halifax Tars, although Rebecca Chapman knows it won’t be a cakewalk.
“Our unselfish and structured playing style was the key to last week’s win as well as utilizing every player on our extremely deep roster,” said Chapman in an email interview.
“We think that the Tars will definitely be one of our, if not our biggest, competitors this season. They are a group of experienced players with a strong leadership and cohesive team atmosphere. They’re also a great group of girls that we can’t wait to meet on the pitch.”
Also, so far so good with injures. Chapman said the team is fit and healthy going into the Canada Day matinee.
But Chapman also understands there is still much to focus on.
“I think we need to look to improve our defensive structure this weekend as the Tars typically do have a strong offence. We can’t win this game without playing good defence, so our coaches have really looked to work on that this week in practice, and the girls are putting in the work to make it happen,” she said.