PEISAA 2023 Rugby Championships

PEISAA 2023 Rugby Championships

History made tonight! For the first time in the PEISAA, an all female team of officials are working the Senior AAA Women’s Gold medal game at UPEI. Congratulations Fran, Bella, and Hannah!

No shortage of drama in PEISAA senior AAA rugby gold-medal games

Jason Simmonds · Journalist |

CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — The P.E.I. School Athletic Association senior AAA rugby championship banners are returning to Three Oaks Senior High School for the third year in a row and to Bluefield High School for the first time in more than a decade.

The Three Oaks Axewomen made it three straight with a 20-10 victory over the Charlottetown Rural Raiders.

“(All championships) are all special, but this one is definitely special,” said Axewomen head coach Tim Hockin. “We have a couple of girls on our team that played all three years of AAA rugby – Olivia James, Maddy Dyer, Victoria Thornhill. I really wanted them to go out with a championship banner.”

On the boys’ side, the Bluefield Bobcats survived a late comeback attempt by Charlottetown Rural to hold on for a 14-10 win in the gold-medal game.

“It’s really special because I’ve been here as a player, and this is my second time here as a coach and my first gold medal,” said Bobcats head coach Donnie Sonier. “It’s the first championship for Bluefield in the last 15, 16 years.”

Both championships were decided at the MacAdam Field pitch on the UPEI campus June 6.

Girls

The Axewomen erupted for 17 second-half points to erase a 10-3 deficit at halftime.

“It’s been a work in progress for the whole season,” said Hockin. “We couldn’t quite piece it together, but the stuff we have been working on in practice finally came together that second half. We played our best rugby in the second half of that game.”

Although Three Oaks trailed at the break, Hockin said there was no panic. Hockin said the coaching staff reminded the players they were only down a converted try.

A big turning point for the Axewomen came on the opening kickoff of the second half.

“I think it went to Bella MacKinnon, our fullback, and she was pinned deep inside our own 22-metre and Bella hit a seam, hit a hole and went on a 30-, 40-metre run,” said Hockin. “We then had a couple of nice passes and probably got about 60 metres out of it. That, right there, gave the girls life and made them think, ‘we got this.’”

Hockin said one difference was the Axewomen played a good part of the second half on offence as compared to 80 per cent on defence in the first half.

Axewomen flanker Olivia James was named the most valuable player of the playoffs.

“She was, without a doubt, the best player in the league all year,” said Hockin. “She was a game-changer.

“In the final and semifinal games, she willed us to a championship. She is probably the best two-way player I have ever coached as far as going from offence to defence.”

James scored the tying try in the final and, shortly after, made another momentum-changing play. Hockin said James caught a ball at her ankles, collected it, gathered speed, drew in their last defender and made the final pass that led to the game-winning try by Deidre Studer.

Kicker Lana Gillis accounted for the other 10 points, connecting on two penalty kicks and two converts.

The Bluefield Bobcats are the 2023 P.E.I. School Athletic Association Senior AAA Boys Rugby League champions. The Bobcats defeated the Charlottetown Rural Raiders 14-10 in the gold-medal game, played at UPEI’s MacAdam Field on June 6. Members of the Bobcats are, front row, from left, Paul Steele, Pierce Saunders, Hunter MacLean, Steve Cooper, Seth MacCormack, Liam Boswall, Sam Amyot, Simon MacFadyen, Gui Grisolia, Eli Grant, Andrew Wilson and Camden Hutchison. Back row, from left, are Scott Kent (coach), Devan Gormley (coach), Juan Balderas, Gracyn Arbing, Colby Monro, Sam Leclair, Owen Connolly, Nathan Gallant, William Kent, Ethan Arsenault, Kade Lavoie, Donovan Howatt, Alex Bertram, Donnie Sonier (coach), Zach Langdale and Kirill Ledovski. Jason Simmonds • The Guardian – Contributed

Boys

The boys’ game featured the Bobcats carrying the offensive play in the first half while the team’s defense proved to be a big story late in the contest.

The Bobcats built a 14-0 lead at halftime, but the Raiders refused to go quietly, setting the stage for a nail-biting finish.

“When you play defence for 10 to 15 minutes, you are bound to get a little fatigued,” said Sonier. “When you get fatigued, you are bound to make mistakes.

“We made too many critical mistakes, gave away yellow cards and put ourselves down (in manpower). It was 12 against 15 (players) at one point and we still held on in that game, which takes a lot of character. I’m blown away with our defensive effort to be honest.”

The Bobcats’ Owen Connolly was announced as the MVP of the playoffs.

Sonier noted Connolly had a 50- to 60-metre run at one point, and his penalty try opened the scoring for the Bobcats.

“He’s a massive ball carrier for us and massive on defence,” said Sonier. “Ethan Arsenault, who got player of the game for us, he must have made 20, 25 tackles in that game.”

Sonier said the key to the Bobcats’ strong play in the first half was successfully retaining the ball. Sonier said Bluefield wanted to put pressure the Raiders.

“When we kicked and put them under pressure in their own end, we were hoping to win the ball back,” said Sonier. “When we did, it resulted in points scored.

“We had a game plan going in, but when we were able to benefit off a few clean breaks, we were able to score. We worked on that all season, and it finally paid off.”

In the end, it came down to defence, and Sonier said the Bobcats developed a reputation as a defensive team, allowing only 19 points in three regular-season games.

“Our defensive effort speaks for itself,” said Sonier. “It’s why we finished first in the league.

“We built throughout the season on our defence, and it showed here.”