The Terrace Northmen rugby club showed the Prince George Gnats whose house they were in, with a feisty 29-14 win on Saturday, June 22 here in Terrace at the Northwest Community College field.
The Gnats, playing with a smaller sized squad that was about half the number of the 30-plus Northmen on the field, were down 24-0 at the half, but picked up in the second to close the gap.
“It was a good team win,” said Northmen Jarryd Kurisu. “We were able to get everybody into play. It brought the team together in a way that I think will help benefit the team going forward.”
The first official Division 3 home game was an aggressive one, with yellow and red cards thrown at them, something Kurisu said is a rarity for the team.
“Since I’ve been playing up here I don’t think I’ve ever seen a yellow card dished out to the Northmen,” he said. “There were definitely some temper flares that ended up calming down from the second half.”
This rivalry with Prince George is new, and a sign that Terrace’s years of work building up the club are paying off.
“We don’t traditionally have a rivalry with Prince George, it’s one that’s kind of developed as we’ve gotten more competitive in the last year or two and been able to come up to that level of play,” he said.
This puts the Northmen 1-0-1 for the season. Next up the team is hosting Prince Rupert Seamen, a combined Prince Rupert and Smithers team, here this Saturday, July 6 at 6 p.m. at the college field.
The Northmen’s first exhibition match against the Seamen, over Seafest weekend, was a gruelling affair that the Northmen ended up winning 5-0.
“I think they’re training harder,” said Kurisu. “They’re working harder to better themselves, the same way we were.”
The Northmen are part of the Northern Rugby League along with the Prince George Gnats, the Williams Lake Rustlers, and the mixed Prince Rupert/Smithers team.
League play consists of all of the teams playing one home and one away game against each other and the best record will represent the North at the Saratoga Cup, Division 3 Provincials in Penticton this September.