B.C. Rugby scored one of its best-ever international victories on the final leg of a tour to South America.
The B.C. Bears, including five starters from the Burnaby Lake Rugby Club, edged Uruguay’s senior men’s national team 21-20 in Montevideo on Saturday.
The win was the time B.C.’s provincial team has beaten a full international test side since the Bears downed Russia 38-16 in 2009.
Some of B.C.’s biggest wins occurred well in the past, when B.C. upset Australia 11-8 in 1958, the British Lions 8-3 in 1966 and Scotland 22-13 in 1985.
“We were obviously very pleased with the result and proud of the effort of the players,” said B.C. Bears director of rugby Jim Dixon in a press release. “It was an incredibly physical game and our scrum was under a lot of pressure.”
Burnaby Lake’s Micha Govorchin and No. 8 Admir Cejvanovic of Burnaby were among the B.C. forwards, while scrum half Cody Rockson and centre’s Evan Thomas and Steve Battie also started for the Bears.
Burnaby Lake’s Andrew Lackner, Scott MacKay and Nate Mantle backed up the B.C. starting 15. Anthony Luca was injured.
B.C. will now return home in preparation for the Canadian inter-provincial rugby championship, which begins in August.
