North Vancouver’s Capilano RFC will look to lift their second straight U17 men’s provincial title on Sunday November 25th when they host Vancouver Island champions Oak Bay Castaway Wanderers at Klahanie Park.
Capilano are fresh off a narrow win over Lower Mainland rivals Bayside Athletic Association in the Lower Mainland regional championship, while CW return to their first provincial final since finishing as runner-ups in back-to-back seasons in 2009 and 2010.
(Klahanie Park) starting at 1:00pm
Capilano (5-1) wrapped up the regular season at 4-1 and this past weekend defeated no.1 seed Bayside 19-10 at South Surrey Athletic Park.
The squad has benefitted from the experience of BC provincial age grade coaches Curry Hitchborn and Daniel Weidner as well as assistant coach Pat Banham.
Their roster features a number of provincial team players who lifted a national championship this past summer including former BC U16 Co-Captain Cole Keffer – a game breaker at the age grade level and member of the BC Rugby Academy.
The squad has plenty of depth and experience with the coaches emphasizing the importance of game time for every player on the roster.
Capilano’s Coach Curry Hitchborn stated “They are a very self-motived group so they challenge those around them to be better. [We] threw some fairly complicated systems at them and allowed them to customize based off where they saw the progress,” said Hitchborn of why his team has been successful this year. “As the season really got underway, we would spend 30-60 minutes on fundamentals, then turn practice over to [our players] for a team run. We let them challenge themselves and ‘figure it out’ and now they’re largely self-reliant out there on the field.” Players on the Cap squad to watch should include the following, Liam Doherty, Captain Nicholas Allen, Co-Captain Cole Keffer, hooker Anthony Oswald, centre Angus Carroll, centre Jake Knapton, wing Jonathan Manderson, prop Austin Wright
Oak Bay’s Castaway Wanderers (5-0) roll into the provincial final with a perfect record after defeating Nanaimo RFC 53-17 in the Island championship last weekend. A key contributor during the final and throughout the season has been Zach Kahn who excels in the centres and at full back. Kahn ran in four tires against Nanaimo during the Island final.
CW have won by heavy margins in regional play recording 214 points and have allowed just 27 points against.
Castaway Wanders Head Coach Dylan Tanner stated “The boys have worked very hard this season on the basics like passing, tackling, and rucking. We are fortunate to have players from St. Michaels University School and Oak Bay High who have strong rugby traditions in Victoria and have excellent coaching during the spring school season. Our key to success has been the commitment of the players, as well as our focus on playing every game as a team and not as individuals,” said CW coach Dylan Tanner. “Honestly, we have so many talented and hardworking players that it is hard to pick one or two boys as the only standout players. We have come together over the last few weeks in spite of injuries and have continued to play our style of rugby.”
The game will be the U17 PROVINCIAL FINAL and is played at Klahanie Park starting at 1 PM.
