Surrendering the first points on the day didn’t faze the Burnaby Lake Rugby Club’s premier men’s side.
Instead, the premier team erased an 8-0 deficit with a commanding performance that finished 22-8 over the University of B.C. Old Boys Ravens in their qualification round match.
The Old Boys’ lone score came against the flow of play and off a knock-on in their own end, resulting in a long sprint that position UBC ahead 5-0 eight minutes into the contest. They would add to that lead off a three-pointer after 21 minutes.
The Ravens’ defence had at that point done a stellar job of mustering turnovers, but the Lakers settled down over the next dozen minutes and put the rally in place.
But it was much less a hole than a motivator, as Burnaby counted tries by Jack Caithness and Nolan Shelley, three minutes apart, to go ahead 10-8 at the half. Their first score was created by flanker Fuku Vikilani, who fed Caithness for a dash down the sideline.
Then another Vikilani – this time, 18-year-old Taitusi –
picked up the ball from the backend of a scrum, offloaded to Caithness who after some metres passed to Shelley who gave Burnaby its lead.
Fuku Vikilani, who would cart off man-of-the-match honours, delivered another try at the 50-minute mark, and Adam Timler’s score 11 minutes later, followed by Shelley’s convert, capped the offence.
The win locks up another season in the premier ranks for 2016, and sit third overall with a 3-2 record.
In Div. I action, Burnaby Lake climbed back over the .500 mark with a polished 20-6 win over the UBC Old Boys Ravens.
Backline standouts Mike Goodall and Tomasi Vaitaki put in stellar efforts and accounted for all the BLRC points, with Goodall counting 15 points off his boot, nailing a number of penalty kicks.
Turning in top-notch performances were the back row trio of Riley Fergus, Nat Hight and Trent Shelley.
• In under-18 girls rugby, the Burnaby Lake-Capilano team blasted Surrey 32-5.
In the 10-aside match, Burnaby Lake proved too powerful for the cross-Fraser rivals.
Outstanding performances were delivered by centre Melissa Froese, outside centre Cynthia Martin and prop Liz Wright.
