Fifty per cent of winning is just showing up. So when the Banff women’s rugby team arrived at its latest game three players short of a full squad, they knew they were in trouble.
The Banff Rugby Girls lost a 42-7 decision to the Calgary Hornets in Calgary Rugby Union action, Saturday, May 14, dropping their record to 0-2 on the season.
The Banff team was forced to play three short the entire match, leaving them vulnerable on the outside to overlap offensive plays. Although Banff scored first and pressured the Hornet’s defence, the home team exploited Banff’s player disadvantage for the rest of the afternoon.
By half time, the Hornets were up 20-7, but looked nervous in the face of the Banff offence. However, by the second half, Banff didn’t have enough left in the tank to fend off the Hornets’ attack.
Captain Katie Young said the score did not indicate how close the game really was.
“I’m happy with how the girls played. (The Hornets) had a few lucky breaks, but it was a good battle,” Young said.
“The girls knew they were playing down, but we were generally playing in their zone. (The Hornets) had overlap the whole time. They said by half if they were way up, they’d take three of their girls off the field, but they didn’t because they were scared,” Young said.
Laura Bowie played a strong match for the Banff squad, winning the ‘man of the match’ award.
The team will need more players to show up if they are to post victories. Young said the team has 25 players registered, including many first-year players, however, getting them together on a Saturday is always a struggle.
“This happens every year,” said Young, noting those interested in playing can still sign up. The team practices twice a week and plays in weekend action.
The team has the next week off to prepare for its home opener at the Banff Rec Grounds on May 28 at 1:30 p.m., where they’ll face off against the Hornets again.
“We’ll work on our positioning and defence to cover up the overlap. We were getting scored on from the outside and have to address that,” Young said.
