The BLRC was in high profile at the National Championships in Hamilton this year with seven of the Women’s Premier team players representing British Columbia.
Jessica Dovanne and Mandy Lewis were key players in the BC U19 Women’s team Gold medal winning effort. Jessica played both centre positions as well as wing during the tournament, scoring one try and constantly slashing through defenses. Mandy played open side flanker and had impact on both sides of the ball with crashing runs and huge “dump” tackles. Both players were chosen to start in the Gold medal game and helped lead BC to a 26-19 win over Ontario.
Five BLRC women anchored a strong BC team whose Bronze medal performance understates the fact that they beat defending champion Alberta twice and lost a heart-breaking semi-final to Quebec by one point despite scoring three tries to two. Emma Hadfield was dominant in lineouts throughout the week and her strong open field play was rewarded with two tries. Marley Harris set the standard for work rate in the tournament from the blind side flanker position and was constantly generating opportunities for the BC team with huge hits and excellent support. Julia Sugawara stepped her already Canada level game up by punishing defenses for poor positional play with her kicks and thrilling breaks from the base of ruck and maul, in addition to her always flawless distribution of the ball. Julia finished the week with three tries. Kary Steele organized the BC defense from inside centre and turned the heads of the Canadian selectors and drew gasps from the crowds with some classic open field train wreck tackles on current Canadian players. Kary added two tries to compliment her defensive work. Sabrina Neufeld had the honour and responsibility of captaining the BC team and battled back from a severe ankle injury sustained two weeks prior to the championships to play in every game and direct a potent BC outside attack from fullback.
These seven players not only made the provincial teams but excelled at this level as witnessed by the fact that they were named as starters in all critical matches. These players represented the BLRC with class and excellence so please take the time to congratulate them as club mates.
