The B.C. bugaboo

Simon Blanks hopes to change that Saturday.

The Rock and Vancouver Wave hit the Swilers Rugby Club turf  Saturday at 2 p.m., with the national junior (under-20) rugby championship up for grabs.

The Rock enters the game unbeaten in three games at the Atlantic championship and coming off a win over Niagara, Ont., in the Eastern Canadian at the Swilers earlier this month.

The Wave washes in as the reigning national junior champion, and unbeaten in the B.C. conference.

“They’ve got a number of under-20 national team players,” said Simon Blanks, who will call the shots for Newfoundland along with associate coach Pat Parfrey, “so we’re the definite underdogs.”

Newfoundland will field a relatively healthy lineup, according to Blanks, although there are the usual bumps and bruises that are par for the course with rugby.

Patrick Parfrey, who played for Canada at the world juniors in Russia three months ago, is recovering nicely from a hamstring injury. And Blanks said captain Shane Stratton will be playing his first game of the season following a, “drinking injury.

“He sliced a tendon in his hand when a beer bottle broke,” the coach said. “He hasn’t played this year.

“Shane’s the gold standard for player development in this province. He’s worked very hard, going from 150 pounds to 175 or 180 pounds of muscle. I’m pretty sure he’ll have an impact on the game.”

Rain showers are expected for the capital city area Saturday, and while that would work in Newfoundland’s favour if it was playing, say, a team from the Prairies, Blanks said the British Columbians accustomed to playing in the rain during its winter league season.

But where the big advantage comes into play, the coach, is in fan support.

“Two hundred supporters,” he said, “can sound like 1,000. The crowd, I<\p>think, is worth a seven-point start. The boys are buoyed by the fact there’s home support behind them.”

Three under-20s — Parfrey, Zac Coughlan and Michael Pittman — toured with The Rock’s senior squad last weekend in Wales. That experience is invaluable when it comes to playing for the national junior crown.

“B.C. will have its hands full with Coughlan,” Blanks said. “He’s been a monster at the senior and junior level. But rugby is not a one-man sport. All the boys will have to stick to the game plan.

“We have a heavy set of forwards and while I’m reluctant to say we’ll beat them (B.C.), we’re going to try and take it to them up front. Failing that, we’ll go to Plan B and take the ball wide.

“We’ve also had a very powerful scrum all year. If they can hold our scrum, they deserve applause.”

rshort@thetelegram.com

Rock Roster

Members of The Rock under-20 team, which will play British Columbia in the Canadian junior rugby final 2 p.m. Saturday at the Swilers Rugby Complex, are:

Bob Rogers

Jordon Power

Robert Spearing

Kyle Baillie

Justin Grainger

Cam Pierce

Neil Molloy

Zac Coughlin

Mike Pittman

Patrick Parfrey

Scott O'Shea

Kyle McGuirk

Tye Hamblin

Shane Stratton (C)

Patrick McNicholas

Casey Cavers

Alex Marshall

Craig Lynch

Dennis Maher

Matt O'Reilly

Llyr Morris

Stefan Mackey

Devin Lacey