The U19 Parkland Pirates rugby team wrapped up the Manitoba Cup series the same way they started, completely dominating their competition.
The Pirates defeated Westman 38-0 Saturday morning before dumping Winnipeg 40-0 later in the day.
And they got to do it on home ground during a day-long celebration of rugby, which featured U16 boys and girls matches, as well as a Parkland Mavericks men’s game versus the Brandon Barbarians.
For head coach Aaron Miner, it was the perfect end to a long stretch of rugby success.
“I liked how we just kept continuing from where we left off from our tour to London and Wales and then into the high school season and then into this regional tournament,” Miner said.
“The team just kept building on all those experiences and you could tell we were playing a team (in Westman) today that didn’t have the experience that we have.”
The success of the team has opened opportnities for players to advance on to bigger and better things through rugby, Miner added.
“We do have a lot of Canadian hopefuls on this team. We have three guys going to Toronto next week to try out for team Canada,” Miner said, referring to Julien Lopez, Morgan Fleck and Alex Boshoff.
“So, they’re in the top 40 already in the eyes of the Canadian scouts.”
However, players moving up the rugby ranks means Miner and his coaching staff will have some rebuilding to do next season.
“Next year we do lose quite a few of these guys. Probably half our team will move on to senior men’s or college or university ball,” Miner said, adding he will be looking to U16 coach Henk Du Plessis to send up some players to fill some of the holes.
“Not only fill some shoes, but make us bigger, stronger, and more experienced.”