Linc Bowman scored a last-minute try to give Burnaby Lake Rugby Club a second straight Division 1 championship.
Bowman’s short, 10-metre run into the end zone gave the defending and three-time Div. 1 champions a 25-20 victory over the University of Victoria and put an end to a thrilling final match after a try-less first half of action at Klahanie Park in West Vancouver on Saturday.
“It hasn’t been this way this year,” said Bowman after the game. “We’ve been lucky really and dominated most teams (this season). But the past two weeks, two young teams (UVic and University of British Columbia) really wanted it and really stretched us.”
Burnaby Lake took the lead on a well-taken penalty goal by Geoff Ryan, who garnered all of the club’s first-half points off kicks, including a pair of timely drop goals, before UVic booted a penalty of its own to make the score 12-3 on the final play of the half.
Bowman booted an easy penalty from 25 metres out to start the second half for Burnaby, but then things got interesting.
UVic closed the gap to 15-10 when lock forward Liam Chisholm bowled his way over the line from five metres out with the game’s first converted try.
The Lakers responded, pinning the students in their own end and working the ball well in the forwards off driving mauls and second-phase play before finally bulling one in to double the score at 20-10.
But in an unsuspected response, UVic found an uncharacteristic gap in the Burnaby Lake backfield and raced 60 metres downfield for a lightning-quick try by Sam Jones in the corner.
UVic’s Gavin Rowell made a difficult kick from the sidelines for the extras and then minutes later tied the contest at 20-20, with scant time remaining, on a penalty from inside the Burnaby Lake 20-m line.
However, Burnaby Lake, which had earlier won the Library Square regular season championship with a record of 13-1-0 was not about to see that hard work all season go for naught, said Bowman.
“In the back of my head, I saw they were coming back on us and I didn’t want to lose that game,” he said.
So, when Bowman saw the gap on the short side of the field, he went for it, stepping out of the grasp of one UVic tackle and then launching his body into the end zone for the game-winning score.
“It was just an awesome game,” Bowman added.
The victory was the second Div. 1 title in a row for Burnaby Lake and third since 2011.
BLRC lost an opportunity for a second title following a 34-12 to Velox in the premier women’s final at Klahanie on Saturday.
