Brentwood College School - Brentonian Yearbook (Mill Bay, British Columbia Canada)

Page 29 text:

SPORTS BRENTWOOD COLLEGE RUGBY CLUB After several years of success, the Brent- wood College Rugby Club was perhaps a little complacent. What many players forgot was that those years at the top were a result of ex- treme dedication, hard training, attention to detail and the ability to play on guts when it really counted. One frequently heard this season that a student was playing for fun, and this in the student ' s mind was synonymous with a casual approach, and a slack attitude to training. I would, of course, be the last person to deny that one plays rugby for fun, but it is the interpretation of this phrase that I differ from many students. The fun comes from the feeling that one is as fully prepared as possible - physically and mentally - and that one is giv- ing everything in the game. If one does this one does not mind losing, and this I am sure was true of the second Shawnigan game at the 1st XV level. Here a side already weakened by injury, starting as underdogs, had the extreme misfortune to lose a player in the opening min- utes of the game. Everyone gave his utmost, and there was no shame in the defeat. This coach had the extraordinary experience of having a team lose by more than 20 points and feeling proud of them. Indeed I have never been as moved by a winning team as I was by this team in defeat. What is unfortunate is that many members of the Club, particularly in the Senior School did not follow the example of the 1st XV. We knew that we were in for a difficult year. Only four members of the 1st XV were returning - Ted Dunfee, Brian Thorne, Brian Hawksworth and Eric Paul - and every outside half down to the Jr. Colts level had left. We had no big for- wards and most of the pack were very young without the strength of maturer players. We knew this was a year of building, and with a weak 1st XV our other teams would be affected. This is where I feel some of our ex- perienced players let us down. Where they could have held together the 2nd, 3rd and 4th XV ' s, containing many young inexperienced players, they offered little. A boy new to the school can hardly be expected to know what the Rugby Club has meant in the past to Brent- wood College. When he hears an experienced player advocate a playing for fun policy it is not surprising he follows this example. I per- sonally cannot see the tun in losing week af- ter week, and an encouraging sign was that many players obviously felt the same way, par- ticularly after the first series of games against Shawnigan. We consider this a bad year for the Rug- by Club and yet if we look at the results of the 1st XV we see the only defeats were by the very fine Shawnigan side, and, as already stated, in the second of these games the 1st XV acquitted themselves honourably. The Junior XV ' s showed ability, and the right spirit, par- ticularly Mr. Davies ' Jr. Jr. Colts. Let us hope for a resurgence of The Brentwood Spirit next season. We had become soft at the top. Now we are down the scale and need the ded- ication and desire to regain our position. To conclude on a brighter note - we did learn to become gracious losers; we did play on good pitches, thanks to Mr, Finnegan and his staff; we did look immaculate and have good equipment, thanks to Mr. Pitt; and we did provide pleasant teas, thanks to the kitchen staff. As always we are very grateful to these workers behind the scenes. I.R.F. 27