It began with a 16-day tour of Great Britain and concluded on B.C. high school rugby’s biggest stage playing for a provincial medal. What a remarkable journey the last three months have been for the McMath Wildcats senior boys rugby team.
The Wildcats concluded their breakthrough campaign with a 29-7 loss to the Collingwood Cavaliers Saturday in the Tier One “AA” bronze medal game at the B.C. Secondary Schools Rugby Union Championships in Abbotsford. A year earlier, the Steveston school was making its provincial debut at the tier II level. The growth over the past 12 months has been tremendous with only traditional private school programs getting in their way.
The fourth seeded Wildcats opened the championships with a 24-20 quarter-final win over No. 5 Robert Bateman. They battled hard in a 28-0 semi-final defeat to No. 1 ranked and eventual champion St. Michael’s University, before closing out the tournament against Collingwood. It marked the third time the teams had met in a month, including the Lower Mainland “AA” final two weeks earlier.
“Literally for the past two months, we have not played a school out of the top five in the province,” said Wildcats head coach Mike Charlton. “That’s what I congratulated the boys on post-game. That’s what happens when you reach a certain level of rugby. There’s not a team alive that would not want the opportunities we have had.
“They have played at a major stadium in England, the Brockton Oval, Centennial Oval, Swangard and now here at the provincials. They have had an incredible experience this year.”
This season was five years in the making.
Charlton brought these players up through the junior ranks where the Wildcats also enjoyed plenty of success. Thanks to a terrific parent group, the trip to the United Kingdom was organized. The quality of play and instruction helped springboard the McMath program to the next level.
“It’s been an incredible bunch of guys to coach for the past five years and an incredible parent group too,” continued Charlton. “They have been an absolute pleasure to coach and I am going to miss these guys.
“We were the No. 1 public school in the province. It was only the three private schools that beat us.”
The Wildcats are losing a number of key Grade 12s to graduation including Jordan Roberts who was named to the Commissioner’s 15 Team, while Spencer Norman (lock) and Seth Wong Hen (wing) were recognized as two of the best in the province at their positions this season. Still, with the returning talent and juniors on the way up, they should be well-positioned to make a third straight trip to provincials.
“The great news is seven players are maintained for next year. Our tight five will still be here. The goal will be to qualify as a top seed for the Tier II championships and I think we can be competitive at that level,” added Charlton.
