The Oak Bay Barbarians didn’t just write a new chapter in a high school rivalry Wednesday night. They threw the entire book at it.
Trailing 22-0 at the half, the Barbs rallied with 26 consecutive points to defeat the St. Michaels University School Blue Jags 26-22 in an incredible comeback in the annual Rees Boot rugby game played in front of a large and loud gallery that ringed UVic’s Wallace Field.
Oak Bay hoisted the coveted Boot, which is one of Gareth Rees’ old cleats bronzed. The annual fixture is named in honour of SMUS-grad Rees, who played in four World Cups for Canada, two as captain, and is the first rugby player inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame.
It was the 21st Rees Boot game, with the series now tied 10-10-1 between the two schools that have produced numerous national team players for Canada.
But it didn’t look to be going Oak Bay’s way at the half. SMUS used its quick backfielders — several of them from the school’s B.C. championship soccer and basketball teams — to find the edge and run wild in the opening half.
“They exposed us in the first half. We made a few adjustments at half-time and closed down their outside attack,” said Oak Bay head coach Murray Allen.
Did they ever.
Oak Bay’s forwards — led by Gavin Kratz, Liam Saad-Roy, Jonah Hall and Carter White — clamped down tight on SMUS’ edge running attack. Going the other way, the Barbs got second-half tries from White, Hall, Saad-Roy and Matti Grant, with Adam Erdley providing the crucial kicking points.
“We kept our heads up and kept pushing,” said Hall.
Added Grant: “You never give up in a game like that. We came together as a team.”
Oak Bay is undefeated after victories over Claremont, G.P. Vanier, Brentwood College and now SMUS. The Blue Jags returned from a 3-3 tour of Spain and Portugal. Both Oak Bay and SMUS should be in the top-five of the respective B.C. double-A and triple-A top-10 rankings, when they come out.
The rosters were a study in contrasts. SMUS fielded a stellar Grade 12 class of athletes while Oak Bay started nine Grade 11 players among its fifteen and they will be heard from this year and next.
“This is a good group of [SMUS] athletes — several multi-sport guys who have also contributed [to this season’s B.C. championships in soccer and basketball],” said SMUS co-coach Ian Hyde-Lay.
“But all credit to Oak Bay tonight. Over the [last] 40 minutes, they were better than us. It was a real barn-burner. This is such a great rivalry.”
Meanwhile, when asked to assess the rest of the Island, Oak Bay coach Allen pointed to Shawnigan Lake School as again the team to beat.
The Shawnigan Lake Stags’ unprecedented run of five consecutive provincial Triple-A championships came to an end last year with a 15-12 loss to the St. George’s Saints of Vancouver in the dying moments of the 2014 B.C. championship game. But Shawnigan could be on the road to six B.C. titles in seven years.
“They [Stags] may have their strongest team, yet,” said Allen.
