You can’t win them all.
The Bow Valley Grizzlies suffered their first defeat of the Calgary Rugby Union Division Two season with a close 38-26 away loss to the Calgary Irish on May 28.
The game was a rematch of the May 7 season opener where the Grizz prevailed 37-26, but this time around, the Irish had a few cards up their sleeve as they played several of their Division One members.
“It was a good game against a strong team,” said Grizzlies player/coach Tyler Hawes. “(The Irish) playing a number of their first division players was a good challenge for the boys and we played some good rugby despite the final result.”
Going into the game, the Grizz had decent preparation, but due to work commitments and injuries, the squad’s numbers were down compared to the first two weeks of the season, which could have played a part in the tight loss.
“I was expecting us to come out guns blazing, but we were a little sluggish,” Hawes said. “Hopefully that will change going forward.”
The home side scored a couple opportunistic tries against the Grizz during the first half thanks to picking off a pass and blocking a kick to return the ball, despite which, the Cochrane team was never really out of the game.
“The boys were a little bit down from those mistakes, but we came out in the second half flying and scored three consecutive tries which put us within five points of winning,” Hawes said. “Then the Irish came down and got another lucky try to pull away on the last play of the game, but it was definitely a back and forth game, no doubt about it.”
The Cochrane lads next play on June 4 against the Calgary Canucks, a team they haven’t encountered yet this season, and one which is in the a similar position to the Grizz.
“We haven’t seen them play yet,” Hawes confirmed. “They had a similar result to us on the weekend against a tough Calgary Saints team, so I am expecting the boys to step up for what promises to be a close game between two evenly-matched teams.
“We’ll just have to see how everything plays out.”
