The Earl Marriott Mariners are through to the quarter-final round of B.C. High School senior boys AAA rugby provincials after a 33-16 victory Saturday over the South Kamloops Titans.
And though they’ll have to knock off one of the province’s powerhouse programs – Vancouver’s St. George’s Saints – Wednesday in order to advance to the final four, EMS coach Adam Roberts is confident his fifth-ranked Mariners can pull it off.
“They’re always one of the best teams in the province, and the boys are pretty pumped up to play those guys,” said Roberts.
“We’ve been basically a fifth-ranked team for the last couple years, and it’s time for us to break through into the top four. Our guys really want Earl Marriott to be one of B.C.’s powerhouse teams, and if we play our best rugby, we can beat anybody.
“We are a team that people should be scared of.”
The fourth-seeded Saints are in the second round after dispatching the only other Peninsula squad at B.C. championships; they knocked off the Semiahmoo Totems, seeded 13th, 46-17 Saturday.
The Mariners and Saints have yet to cross paths this season, but Roberts knows the Vancouver private school boasts a physical pack of forwards, which is something the Mariners should be ready for after Saturday’s win over South Kamloops.
“South Kamloops really came at us hard – they don’t play the most skilled style of rugby up there, but man, they play tough and deserve a ton of credit for the way they played,” Roberts said. “They just come at you like wild banshees.”
South Kamloops took a six-point lead on the Mariner early in Saturday’s tilt – “We still had the bus legs,” said Roberts of his team’s slow start – but the Mariners caught up soon after, once the fatigue of the three-hour trip to Kamloops wore off.
Connor Bouchard led the way with two tries, with others credited to Dan Lee, Liam Beaulieu and Nathan Muir. Quinton Wilms was three-for-five on conversion attempts.
If the Mariners are to get past St. George’s in today’s quarter-final – which will be played at 4 p.m. at Abbotsford Rotary Stadium – they’ll not only need to withstand St. George’s physical game, but also stay positive if they find themselves trailing at any point, Roberts said.
“There’s been a few times earlier where the guys would sort of hang their heads a little bit if we’d get down early, but as the season’s gone on, they’ve been better and really showed some resilience,” he said. “I think in that respect, this has really been a good character-building season for us. We just have to go out there and continue to play hard… I think we’ll give them a good run.”
Quarterfinals are held today in Abbotsford, with semifinal action set for Thursday and finals Saturday.