A sluggish beginning relegated the Foothills Lions to second best in their debut performance in 2012.
The Lions lost their season opener 31-24 to the Calgary Hornets in Division III Calgary Rugby Union (CRU) action, May 4 in Calgary.
Foothills captain Nathan Marquardt said the Lions can learn from the loss and the slow start to the game specifically as building blocks going forward.
“It showed us our errors in defence and some of the communication that we still need to work on,” Marquardt said. “It’s just going to put us a really starting pylon for us to work off for the rest of the season.
“It was a good place to start from, but you could definitely see from the beginning it was a little disorganized, but got progressively better throughout the game.”
Foothills built an early hole for itself with an error on a line out near their own try zone leading to an easy score for Calgary just minutes into the game. The Hornets controlled possession for much of the first half and seemed to stifle Foothills with their bend, but don’t break defensive strength.
Lion Dustin Stradeski finally got the Lions on the board with a powerful run from the outside, but the Hornets negated the score with a try of their own off the subsequent kickoff to give Calgary a 12-5 lead going into the half.
The Hornets harnessed the momentum into another score in the opening moments of the second half before Foothills stormed back with two of the final three trys of the game, giving the Hornets a scare, but ultimately falling seven points short.
The Lions captain attributed the late surge to the team increasing its vocal communication.
“We were talking a lot more, communicating a lot more on defence which caused a couple good turnovers in our favour and on offence communication in moving the ball.”
Speed on the outside didn’t hurt either. Lateral movement off a series of rucks from left to right across the field led to Stradeski’s long scoring play in the first half as well as Dustin Peterson’s score on a 20-yard-run in the waning moments of the contest. Meanwhile, Dan Larson’s 15-yard scamper resulted from good ball movement and a burst of acceleration from the back to beat three Hornet defenders on the sideline.
“With our backs this year and the talent we have there and the fitness, it’s a younger group of guys, I think it’s going to be a big option (to go to) is our backs,” Marquardt said.
Conditioning was a point of emphasis for the Lions during, not only the preseason, but also the offseason and the results were evident on the pitch.
“Judging from this time last year we’re definitely (more fit),” Marquardt said.
Lions No. 8 Jordan Smith wasn’t too concerned with the opening loss, knowing it’s still early days in the CRU.
“It’s the beginning of the season and we’re still working some kinks out,” said Smith.
In an offseason characterized by transformation and expansion for the Rampant Lions, incorporating six new players in the season opener was also a challenge.
“We’ve got a lot of new guys and we’re trying to gel still as a team, but you know it’s all going to come together,” Smith said.
The veteran Lion was fond of battle in the trenches against a tenacious opponent.
“It’s always chippy between us and the Hornets, we’re not really a rivalry, but for some reason it always comes out.”
“I really enjoyed the intensity of the game,” Smith said. “I really liked when we started moving the ball properly, we started playing our forward ball and started hitting it up real hard.”
The Division III Lions hit the pitch in search of their first victory of the season on May 11 when they face the Calgary Rams, 11 p.m. at the Calgary Rugby Union. For more information on the Lions go their website at www.foothillslionsrugbyclub.com
