McKecnie Cup Kicks Off

Fraser Valley Coach, De Scossa, as he likes to do, proclaims his McKechnie Cup holders as underdogs when they travel to the Island to take on The Tide on Sunday. He is a shrewd coach and the underdog card is merely a deflection for his very good team to fly under the radar. Action will begin at Herd Road at 12:15 p.m. when the U20 Men play, to be followed at 12:45 with Senior Women playing for the Hellerud-Brown Cup. The main game kicks off at2:30 p.m. The following from BCRN tells the tale;

“2013 marked the revival of the McKechnie Cup and saw the trophy contested for the first time since 2004. Fraser Valley were convincing winners, downing Vancouver Island 25-7 at Westhills Stadium and then Vancouver 46-15 at Brockton Oval. Preparations for the 2014 opener are well underway for the Vancouver Island Crimson Tide who will look to better last year’s 1-1 campaign.

The senior men’s Crimson Tide have been practicing alongside the U20’s at Brentwood College and representation has included South-Island clubs Velox, Castaway Wanderers, James Bay and UVic. The North Island has also been well represented with players attending from Port Alberni, Nanaimo and Cowichan.

“With the reestablishment of the BC Bears provincial team and moving the McKechnie to May (2013 competition was in January), you can see every club is taking the competition more seriously this year. From a sub union perspective, the best part about our training has been pretty much every club has been represented,” added Goodland. “Players know that if they want to get noticed and make their way to the provincial program, they have to play in the McKechnie Cup.”

Hosting this weekend’s fixtures in Cowichan also marks the return of representative rugby to the North Island region after several years of feature matches played in Victoria. For Goodland, hosting the Fraser Valley in Cowichan has the benefit of home field advantage and also being able to provide a major fixture for the North Island community.

“Cowichan are always great hosts and it’s important that this Island team has representation from both the South and the North,” Goodland added. “It’s tough to be hosting the defending champions in the opening round but I’m definitely glad to be facing them at home this year.”

2013’s clash between the two sides in Abbotsford was a bruising affair that saw Vancouver Island pushed around the park by a physical Valley side. Featuring a number of heavy-hitters with provincial team experience, Fraser Valley ran in four tries to the Island’s one. Captain Cody Rockson was at the forefront of the attack, providing two tries before Chris Chalmers and Craig McLaughlin each went over.

“We’re expecting another challenge,” said Fraser Valley Head Coach Kris de Scossa, ahead of this weekend’s games. “Last year the Island had a number of Canada prospects and U20 players that went on to play for the national team. On paper, you would have to say that like last year, the Island will be the favourites heading in.”

Fraser Valley’s preseason has also been well attended with players from Burnaby Lake, Bayside, Richmond, Surrey, Kelowna and Abbotsford making themselves available. De Scossa expects another strong showing from this year’s squad, including last year’s Captain Rockson.

“We are expecting Cody to again show that he’s a contender to make it to the highest level,” de Scossa said. “It’s been made very clear that the McKechnie Cup is the pathway to BC and the national team, and I see Cody as a player more than able to make that step up. He’s one of those players that has the conditioning of a professional athlete.”

Go, Tide, go!