The rugby woes continued for Richmond RFC, but the clouds hanging over the club have a silver lining.
A beautiful weekend on home grounds turned out to be a frustrating one for the club.
The second division squad found itself trailing throughout its match until the late stages of the second half when it was able to tie the score at 10-10. The hosts had opportunities throughout the game but continuity between backs and forwards was a little off and they were unable to capitalize on their good play.
The first division also had its share of problems, the main one again being the fact that they were constantly having to claw back from a deficit against first place Seattle.
This problem was exacerbated by the fact that they also had to deal with the American squad's hard running forwards, the result being many missed tackles. Seattle's veteran fly-half also proved problematic as he helped the backs probe past the gain line with play calling and kicking.
In typical Richmond fashion however, the locals didn't give up. After about 20 minutes, with good hard running in the centers, they were rewarded with their first score from Mike Marquardt.
Offensively Richmond ran and kicked well for most of the game, only a couple of ill-timed runs led to problems from Seattle, which went on to post a 44-25 victory.
So where is the silver lining? The bright side is that the squad Richmond fielded had only seven players from last year's B.C. finalist team.
The rest were injured, had work commitments or were attending the World Cup in New Zealand. The roster will be at full strength for the second half of the season. This means a number of individuals stepped up from the second division team and held their own on the first division squad.
The club is also pleased to announce it will once again be fielding a team at the third division level after an 18-month hiatus.
A number of exhibition games have been lined up for the first half of the season. Those interested in playing and avoiding training can contact Jon Malchy at [email protected].