The Foothills Lions were facing a battle on two fronts in their first ever regular season match in the Calgary Rugby Union men’s second division.
The Lions made their season debut by battling the elements in a snow and mud-soaked Calgary Rugby Union pitch on May 5 against a stinging Calgary Hornets club. Foothills dropped their opener 12-0 in a match much tighter than the score indicates.
Foothills head coach Darcy Gallant said the Lions’ performance reinforced the feeling the team belongs in the second division. The Lions added a second division team to their existing third division squad for the 2012 season.
“The biggest thing was the physicality and getting that into the players’ heads of the guys who have never played at that level,” Gallant said of the Lions’ first game of Division II play. “There’s more strategy as you move up in levels. It becomes more of a thinking man’s game so that’s what we will be working on in the weeks to come.”
As winter reared its ugly head during a wet and soggy May afternoon in South Calgary, a defensive stalemate ensued between the Lions and Hornets in a game characterized by stoppages of play and scrum after scrum.
The Hornets got on the board with a late first-half try when they capitalized on a Lions’ miscue on a line out and a subsequent foul, but Calgary missed the convert. The Hornets carried a 5-0 lead into halftime.
The Lions shut the door defensively in the second half and held the Hornets to just one try before Calgary broke through in the dying moments of the game to double the lead at 10-0 before hitting the convert at the final whistle. Calgary threatened to score with a series of possessions just a few yards away from the try zone, but the Lions’ ferocious forwards held them at bay with several try-saving tackles and interceptions to stay in the game.
“I was really happy with the defence,” Gallant said. “Our goal on the weekend was communication, organization and then our first up tackles and I think we reached all of our goals on that side of it.”
Lions flanker Kris Locke said commitment to positioning buoyed their defensive stands.
“The guys just got to stick together and hold the line,” Locke said of the Lions’ defensive efforts. ”When the ball is moving fast like that we’ve got to have everybody in position, everybody’s got to be on the ball.”
The Lions’ offensive output was their downfall.
“It’s good competition and a big step up from the third division,” said Locke, the Lions rookie of the year in 2011. “You’ve got to pick up the speed and move the ball a lot quicker I found.”
Locke said the Lions had a difficult time adjusting to the Hornets’ ability to close gaps hampering Foothills’ ability to sustain offence.
“With the higher level of rugby the pressure, the way they were coming on us really quickly was where we need to have the adjustment of moving the ball quicker,” Locke said.
Gallant said there were several key ingredients missing from the Lions’ offence as they were unable to threaten with the ball for much of the match.
“Our kicking game we need to work on a ton and we just need to play to our strengths,” Gallant said. “When we slowed it down there in the second half we were a lot better and that has kind of been our bread and butter the last two years.”
Gallant is confident if they stick to those fundamentals better results will ensue.
“When we were doing that it was working and that will create more gaps for the backs,” Gallant said. “In that weather it’s tough to do that, but generally if we were doing that it would have create more gaps and opportunities.”
Gallant said his players were ready for the jump in competition staring them in the face in their first regular season game at the Division II level.
“Most of the guys were switched on and they stepped up,” Gallant said.
Physicality was the most discernable difference between third and second division for the Lions coach and player.
“You get a combination of second division players and guys that are trying to make first division,” Gallant said. “So there are some really quality players out there.”
The Lions are back in action May 12 when they tackle the Calgary Rams, 12 p.m. at the Calgary Rugby Union. The Lions make their home debut on May 25 during which they host the Calgary Canucks at 8:45 p.m. at Holy Trinity Academy. For more information on the Foothills Lions go to www.foothillslionsrugbyclub.com
