Shawnigan Lake School - Yearbook (Shawnigan Lake, British Columbia Canada)

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poorly nor were they ever outplayed. They were particu- larly effective in the set scrummage where, packing tight and low, they timed their snap shove well and drove many an opposing pack briskly backwards. Their work in the loose was first rate, especially their mauling, and in the open play their support in attack and their pressure in defence were also excellent. Only in the lineout did they sometimes come off second best, but even here not too often. Yes, altogether a very fine pack! It would be rather unfair as well as difficult, to single out any individual for special praise as each of them took turns in having out- standing games. It was only at one of the flanker positions that things were slightly unsettled as both Roberto Dras- sinower and Gino Anderson laid about equal claim to the position. However, after much jockeying back and forth, Gino just won the nod. The other two members of the back row were David Coalman on the other flank and Doug Torrie at number 8. John Martin and Phil Offereins supp- lied the power in the second row and the very solid front row consisted of Eddie Evans hooking between David Davies and Bart Lawrence. Everyone of these forwards scored at least one try. The backs were not, unfortunately, quite in the same class, hard as they tried and although they played very well at times, there were too many lapses in concentration for any real consistency or confidence to develop. In attack they all ran well but in defence their positioning was often faulty with the inevitable drastic results. Nevertheless the tac- kling, both individually and collectively was good despite these positional shortcomings. After some experimentation Stephen Southerland won over Gordon Penley for the scrum-half position. He com- bined well with Marc Jinnouchi at fly-half with the latter developing very well towards the end of the season in this very difficult tactical position. Michael Gillies, the captain, was the anchor in the centre and he played very steadily especially at the start of the season when his confident play had a calming effect on what was otherwise an easily rattled group of inexperienced backs. The other centre position was shared between Page Tucker and Charles Crossfield, both of whom are good players but each of whom must learn to time the giving and taking of the pass better, something that Gillies did very well. The wings, Michael Nimmo and Reider Eidsvik were both good, the former being particularly strong on defence, where he brought off a number of try-saving tackles and the latter, with his clever running and opportunistic play being our top scorer with 13 tries. Behind them all was the dependable Dean John- ston, enterprising in attack and safe in defence. As so often occurs with backs however, the season was too short for them to develop the kind of cohesiveness that only playing a large number of matches together produces. They were just beginning to show signs of playing as a real unit when the season came to an end. In retrospect then, this side did much better than expected and entertained us with some very good open rugby. D.W. Hyde-Lay 14

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THE FIRST XV Back Row: Mr. Hyde-Lay (Coach), Gino Anderson, B. Lawrence, M. Nimmo, D. Coalman, D. Torrie, C. Crossfield, E. Evans, S. Southerland Middle Roiv: P. Offereins, R. Eidsvik, D. Johnston, M. Gillies (Captain), J. Martin, D. Davies, M. Jinnouchi Front Row: G. Penley, P. Tucker The 1st XV enjoyed a most successful season. This was rather unexpected as there were no returnees from last year ' s side. However, hard work, discipline, enthusiasm and freedom from injury enabled the team to develop quickly into a fit and attractive XV. Only two matches were lost, both against St. George ' s. In the first of these encounters we could have drawn the game in the final moment, but did not really deserve to on the run of play and, in the second, we allowed the match to slip from our grasp after outplaying St. George ' s for most of the game. This loss was especially disappointing as the result of the match decided the Inde- pendent Schools ' Championship. We did suffer another defeat, this one at the hands of the Old Boys, but we never count this - unless, of course, we happen to win! Five mainland schools were met and defeated including Magee and Point Grey. Our victory over Magee was some- what tarnished as they were not at full strength. Our other Independent School fixtures were close and exciting and for the first time in twenty years we managed to hold Brent- wood scoreless in both of our games. Undoubtedly the cornerstone of our success was the forwards, led by John Martin. This pack never played 13

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