Rugby
Provincial Rivals Since 70ties
Friday marked the 44th annual Boot series between the provincial rivals since dating back to 1970.
The competition is named after the late Brian Wightman, who was a UBC rugby coach from 1964-67. Whichever team totals the most points after the two-game series retains the Boot trophy.
UVic won 17-straight titles until 2014, when the T-Birds dropped the Vikes in both games for an overall score of 51-24.
This year, the Vikes need an extra 12 points to beat UBC and reclaim the Boot title. In the first round of the series, on Oct. 25, UVic fell 30-19 in Vancouver.
The Vikes trail by 11 points in the aggregate score.
“We need to remember that this is also primarily a CDI game and we will be focused on getting the win for league points,” said Vikes Coach Doug Tate.
Currently, UBC is first in the CDI Premier League standings, four points ahead of UVic.
UBC senior Brock Staller leads the league in scoring with 63 points (6 tries, 14 converts).
The Vikes will be forced to compete without key international players Sean Duke, Lucas Hammond, Pat Kay and Justin Douglas, who are away with team Canada.
UBC will be missing scrum half Jorden Sandover-Best, who is away in South America competing with the Maple Leafs.