Richmond Rugby Football Club has announced the third annual Maurice Smith All-Stars.
For the first time, the team includes 10 junior aged players, as well as the traditional senior boys and girls athletes.
While it was a down year for quantity of programs in the city, the quality of the programs for the 2013 season was very high.
At the junior level, both McRoberts and McMath competed in the Vancouver league, performing admirably against many of the bigger triple-A schools.
McRoberts was led from the front by captain Sam Hagong, who was also called up to the senior team for the lead up to the BC Provincial tournament.
McMath was led by hard-nosed centre Nathan Irvine, who was also invited to play for Vancouver-West during the recent PRC tournament. McMath, in a stunning, double over-time upset, knocked off the McRoberts Strikers in the city final, going on to place third in the Lower Mainland.
For senior girl's rugby in the city, 2013 was the second straight year featuring two Richmond programs.
The McMath Wildcats, under the watchful eye of rookie coach Dan Stewart, continued to improve during their sophomore season in the Lower Mainland girl's rugby league.
Despite a narrow loss to cross-town rivals McRoberts, and some nail-biting finishes, the girls did not qualify for the BC finals.
However, the McRoberts Strikers, featuring a roster comprised mostly of grade 9s, 10s and 11s were able to squeak into the provincial tournament, finishing seventh in the province at the Tier-II level.
Maurice Smith was one of the founding members of the RRFC. He passed away in 2009, but his legacy lives on in the determination, athleticism and perseverance of the thirty athletes listed below.
Senior All-Stars:
Terry Lok (flanker, McRoberts); Matias McDonald (scrum half, McRoberts); Justin Turner-Pearce (fullback, McRoberts); Anton Metalnikov (8th man, McRoberts); John Tseng (lock, McRoberts); Dano Golden (prop, McMath); Derrick Sakai (prop, McMath); George Eliopoulos (8th man, McMath); Ethan Vera (fly half, McMath); Kyran James (full back, McMath). Junior All-Stars:
Sam Hagong (8th man, McRoberts); Arnold Jr Macalipay (forward, McRoberts); Colin Szeplab (forward, McRoberts); Ryan Brown (back, McRoberts); Bryan Chiu (fullback, McRoberts); Jesse Assier (prop, McMath); Nathan Irvine (centre, McMath); Ryan Wilkinson (centre, McMath); Robert Arendac (lock, McMath); Ben Tiplitsky (flanker, McMath).
