Lord Tweedsmuir has reclaimed the Quigley Cup.
The Lord Tweedsmuir Panthers defeated Fleetwood Park 42-7 in senior boys rugby April 20 to win the now famous challenge trophy.
It’s the first time the Quigley Cup has been contested since 2019, the last time the two high school teams met in the regular season.
The game was played in “November-like cold and rain,” said Walter van Halst, a teacher at Lord Tweedsmuir and the commissioner of B.C. boys high school rugby. He added both teams were in great spirits for the game.
Quinton Bryant scored three tries for Lord Tweedsmuir and Matteo Kopec added one.
“(Kopec) bulldozed in for one bone-crushing try,” said van Halst.
“It was a pretty intense, hard-fought game,” said Dennis Quigley, the man the trophy is named for. Quigley is currently in his 50th year coaching rugby in Surrey.
He said he’s very honoured to have a trophy named after him.
Van Halst donated the trophy in 2009 as a way to honour Quigley for his years of service and to add another layer of competition and depth to the good-natured rivalry shared between Tweedy and Fleetwood Park.
“At the time I thought, ‘This is special. Usually, you’re dead when you get this type of recognition.’ So I’m pleased with the way it all worked out,” quipped Quigley.
“It’s a real honour to be acknowledged for your years of coaching,” he added. “I kind of laugh about it now, but I’ve been coaching for a half century.”
Quigley said a lot has changed about the game over the years, but none so much as the speed and contact.
Quigley played for Canada between 1976 and 1979 and received two caps, one against the Barbarians and one against France “A.”
Quigley’s first cap was against a Baa-Baas team that had two players—Sandy Carmichael and Phil Bennett—that were on the 1973 Barbarians team and the 1976 Baa-Baas also included up-and-coming Welsh great Gareth Davies.
The 1973 team is famous for beating the All Blacks in Cardiff in game known for “That Try,” arguably the greatest try ever scored in rugby history.
As for Quigley’s game against the Baa-Baas, played at York Stadium in Toronto, he, Spence McTavish, Hans de Goede, and the rest of the Canadian squad lost the game 29-4.
editor@cloverdalereporter.com
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