The Banff Bears men’s rugby club has been a snarling beast on its home turf this season after ravaging their opposition.
In their two home games, the Bears have scored 135 points for and seven points against in Calgary Rugby Union Division 3 play.
Their latest victims, the Calgary Hornets, were mashed 71-7 at the Banff Rec Grounds Saturday (May 30).
As the 2-1 Bears look to the future and a two-game road swing against the Calgary Canadian Irish Athletic Club on Friday (June 5) and the Calgary Barbarians on June 12, they hope to keep momentum flowing.
But Bears’ coach Darrell Cranny said it might be a rocky road for the rugby club over the next two weeks.
“Going on the road is going to be difficult, especially on Friday night games. It’s difficult for us to get the (player) numbers on Friday, it means a lot of guys will have to take off work,” Cranny said.
“We have a strong enough team and enough depth in it at the moment that it shouldn’t make a huge difference, it’s just nice to be able to change guys and bring fresh people on. But I guess the guys coming out are going to have to step up that little bit.”
In Saturday’s game against the Hornets, the Bears unloaded their offensive arsenal, scoring 11 tries and eight conversions on the day. The “youth and speed” of the Bears completely outmatched the Calgary opposition, said Cranny.
“I think we just started straight off, I was really expecting (Calgary), they were big guys, I was expecting them to try hold the ball tight and use their size advantage, which they really didn’t do all that well,” Cranny said. “I guess from the get-go the explosiveness of our team just put them to shame, really.”
The men begin their two away games this Friday at the Calgary Irish Athletic Park at 8 p.m.
