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Regina, SK

This past weekend at Regina Rugby Park, Saskatchewan beat Manitoba and Alberta to claim the title of Under 20 Prairie Champions and advance to the National Western Final on July 17th.

A tight defensive effort versus Manitoba led to the team’s first win on July 9th. Manitoba was only able to make it out of their end a handful of times and Saskatchewan was able to exploit some holes and cruised to a 37-5 victory. It was not all celebration as Saskatchewan lost their team Captain Patrick Young, for the entire tournament to a shoulder injury.

Try scorers for Saskatchewan were John By, John King, Casey Reed, Justin Edralin (2), and Tanner Danylczuk (2) with 1 convert.

Alberta’s win over Manitoba on July 10th set the stage for Sunday’s Prairie Championship involving powerhouse Alberta versus a very young and physical Saskatchewan squad.

Alberta started fast, scoring twice for an early 12-0 lead. Saskatchewan replied with 2 scores from Brian Kim and Tanner Danylczuk and added a convert of their own to tie the game up at 12 -12.

At that point, Alberta’s outside center Jeff Hassler, a Canada U20 and Saskatoon Badgers player, exploded with 3 tries in a 12 minute span to help Alberta start to pull away with a score of 29-12. As Hassler crossed the try line on his last score, the Saskatchewan fullback and fellow Badger teammate Tanner Danylczuk pressed hard and made a forceful tackle as Hassler touched the ball down in goal.

As a result, Hassler had to leave the game with a shoulder injury and this seemed to be the turning point in the match. The last minute of the half, Saskatchewan kept the fight on and with some quick passes to the inside center John King, was able to put one more try in before half to take the score to 29-17 in favor of Alberta.

During the 10 minute half time, coaches Dean Murten, Doug Branchflower and Nathan Perkins must of made some tactical adjustments and rallied the players because the intensity that Saskatchewan returned to the pitch with in the second half could not be matched by the Alberta team.

Saskatchewan was relentless with the pressure and managed to keep Alberta off the score sheet for 40 minutes and were successful with putting in 2 more tries of their own. Scores were from Chris Charge and another from John King along with 2 successful converts from young Canada U17 Canada player Monty Tichkowsky saw Saskatchewan take the lead by the 58th minute 31-29. Some important substitutions kept Saskatchewan fresh and they were able to hold on to win one of the most important games this province has been a part of in several years.

Next, the Saskatchewan squad will play host to the BC Champions, the Vancouver Wave, on July 17th to determine the West representative in the Rugby Canada National Junior Championship.

Kickoff is scheduled for 12pm at the Regina Rugby Park on 25th Ave.