Despite a valiant effort, Merritt Secondary’s senior girls rugby team came out on the wrong end of a 20-5 score in their match last Wednesday against the visiting Salmon Arm Jewels.
Salmon Arm is a triple-A school, meaning they have a much larger pool of student-athletes to draw on for their sports teams.
The Jewels’ age and experience were evident throughout the game played at Voght Park, as they maintained possession for long periods of time, and held a terrritorial advantage throughout the contest.
That said, the Panthers never gave up, battling the visitors for every inch of ground. Scrum half Taylor Nicholls had the Panthers’ lone try in the second half.
“I thought our girls held their own,” MSS head coach Molly Brigden said. “They kept up with the bigger squad quite well. They had fun, and are excited to play their next game.”
Brigden came away from Wednesday’s match with a list of things for her team to work on prior to their next outing — line defence, tackling, and counter-rucking to name a few.
The Merritt rugby team finished up its pre-season with a 1-1 record. MSS won its opening game 20-5 over the Penticton Lakers on April 6.
League play officially began on Wednesday of this week, with the Panthers in Kamloops to play the Valleyview Vikes.
Merritt’s next home game is on Wed., April 27.
