Every time the Red Deer Titans Rugby Club comes to Banff, the town should consider sounding an alarm.
Emergency rooms should go on standby, paramedic personnel should be doubled and small dogs should stay away from the Banff Rec Grounds, for fear one of the snaggle-toothed rugby players might gnaw on their bones for half-time nourishment.
This year’s Calgary Rugby Union tilt was no different, as the teeth-knashing, leg tackle throwing, thick-necked Red Deer squad arrived in search of rugby glory and blood against the Banff side – and not necessarily in that order.
In the first 10 minutes, Red Deer’s monstrous forward pack attacked, goaded and generally made life miserable for the young Banff Bears.
But the young home team would have none of it. They stood up to the Titans with swagger and bravado, using speed and skill to counter the brutish attack. It only took 10 minutes for Banff to prove to the Titans they would not be intimidated. Then they delivered their most thorough and convincing beating of the season for the next 70 minutes, decimating the Titans to the tune of 43-3.
“When we play Red Deer it’s one of the most physical games of the year. They have that chip on their shoulder like we do. We’ve always been outcast teams. When we come together, there’s always fireworks,” said Banff’s Mark Hooper.
“The first 10 minutes made the game. We stuck to our guns. We stood up for each other. We played a physical game and we showed we would not be intimidated, which is what we were looking for from the younger kids. It’s a lot of sink or swim in games like this. They’re a big team. I can’t say enough about the first 10 to 15 minutes for keeping us in contention.”
Unlike past games where Banff would get suckered into a battle of strength and guile, the young Bears finally figured out speed is their greatest weapon. They torched the Titans forward pack again and again and ran up a 31-3 lead by the end of the first half.
Malcolm Wilson, Jeremy Woodcock and Sinclair Matthews scored for Banff, whose high-octane offence simply cooked the Titans with ease over the first 40 minutes.
In the second half, as the score ran up, Banff’s offence was powered by their younger players, who showed deft decision-making and quick feet to keep Red Deer on their heels. Eric Forrest and Carl Raybould powered the offence in the second half with tries of their own.
The game was a relief for the Banff squad, which despite its talent, struggled to a 4-5 record early on.
“It’s been very frustrating for us. We’ve not been playing in the right direction, but we’ve gained experience over the last four to five weeks. This game alone set our standard,” Hooper said.
With the toughest part of their schedule ahead of them, Banff appears poised to go on a late-season roll into the Calgary Rugby Union playoffs. They play first-placed Cochrane on Friday (Aug. 15) night at the Rec Grounds.
“This is where we get continuity. Things start coming together for us. We keep doing what we do. We’re doing the basics well and we start playing smart rugby. Half of the year has been a big learning curve,” Hooper said.
“We don’t expect miracles overnight, but we like to see progression each week. Today was very good. We’re not too perfect. We’re still a little too talkative and argumentative with the opposition. We want to be silent assassins. We’re not there yet, but we’re heading in the right direction.”
Hooper said the win over Red Deer will help them beat bigger teams in the future.
“Those are the teams we need to beat. We need to run them around. We’ve lost games to those teams we should have won. We try to go head on with them and we don’t have a heavy pack. The idea is to get the ball behind them in any shape or form,” Hooper said.
He had praise for the entire team, but singled out Michael “Toba” McKay for strong play.
“He’s been a pain in my ass ever since I met him, but every year he’s gotten better and better. He’s our silent assassin. He never has a bad game and he deserves a lot of praise.”
He also praised Koji Seki, the 17-year-old BCHS star who played well for the Bears.
“Koji has been itching to play for us. He’s showed good stuff and he plays smart rugby.”
The entire team will have to be on the top of their game on Friday against Cochrane, and Hooper thinks it is a winnable game.
“It will take smart rugby. We have to play like we did Saturday.”
