The Earl Marriott Grade 8 boys rugby team are the Surrey champions as well as South Fraser champions.
After winning against Lord Tweedsmuir Secondary 87-12 last week in a tournament that combined both titles, coach Bryn Johnson said it was a really nice way to wrap up the season.
“It’s well-deserved, with the work they’ve put in,” he said.
The players were obviously, happy with the score, but, because there was such a huge difference, they were careful not to gloat or celebrate too loudly while the game was happening.
“I think the boys felt humble and quietly pleased with themselves,” Johnson said.
“Credit to Tweedsmuir – they kept playing the whole 70 minutes and never gave up.”
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He said the first half of the game was amazing to watch, with everything they’d been working on throughout the season coming together.
“The first 35 minutes was some of best rugby I’ve seen in high school in years, no matter Grade 8 or Grade 12,” said Johnson.
“Some people watching came up afterwards and said ‘I can’t believe I’m watching Grade 8s,’ or a lot of kids who hadn’t even touched a rugby ball three months ago.”
He said he’s extremely proud of the team.
“When you’ve got a good group of kids, it’s fairly easy on my end,” he said.
“They finished off a great season with those banners and those are something that will hang up in the school gymnasium forever now – that’s their legacy.”
With the junior and senior teams scheduled to play next week (May 23 and 24), Johnson is hopeful more banners will join the Grade 8 boys rugby banner in the gym.
“Hopefully it’s the start of an all-Marriott sweep in boys rugby,” he said, denying that calling the sweep is a “jinx.”
“We told the other teams we were going to set the tone for it, so we’ve done our job and we’ve brought home the banner – now it’s up to them to continue on with it.”
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tricia.weel@peacearchnews.com
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