Seattle Logs Benchmark Win

The Seattle Saracens have been competing in the British Columbia Rugby Union (BCRU) Premier League since 2014-15 and in all that time has not defeated Westshore. But that changed last Saturday, when the only U.S. team in the league kicked off the Canadian spring season with a 28-12 win against the perennial title contenders.

“I’m hoping the Westshore win wasn’t just a good Westshore win,” Seattle co-captain Kristine Sommer said, insinuating that it’s, instead, the start of something good.

That notion of hope is a positive evolution after the uncertainty of the fall.

“There’s been some transition of people leaving and coming back, maybe just a bit burned out from the season being too long with 15s and going right into 7s,” Sommer summarized. “In the fall we didn’t have too many players because now it’s kind of a friendly season where we play lower teams in the BCRU and local U.S. teams. It was a big more skill development, but numbers were a bit low.”

Seattle ended its fall season against the BCRU Selects, brought 20 players and finished the game with 16.

“It was one of those scenarios where you look at the other bench, and because it was rolling subs, they had 30 players,” Sommer said. “That posed a lot of questions: What is the spring going to look like? Will we have enough players for every weekend?”

But the numbers did come, and the players who did commit to skill development in the fall helped propel early success during the 15s season.

“We have more cohesion in the forward pack, and we’re starting to implement a few tricks that we haven’t been able to do in the past due to consistency,” Sommer said.

The team also had use of a full field, which allowed the squad to “expand on more game play and full-contact scenarios,” the Eagle forward continued. “There’s been a shift in training; it’s more contact heavy and focus ready. With numbers up and key players back for the spring, it’s been ramping up.”

There was no better way to test the team’s progress since the fall than playing Westshore in the season opener.

“There was definitely a mentality shift before that game,” Sommer said. “I think people and teammates got over the stigma of Westshore being the best team in the league.”

The pack stood up in muddy conditions and, much to the forwards’ surprise, dominated the scrum. Francine Bray and Jenny Johnson put in memorable performances, but the forwards as a whole played with resiliency. Anne Peterson led as backs captain and flyhalf Leah Ingold deployed a dangerous backline that ended with Kelsi Stockert and Jennine Detiveaux. Stockert celebrated her return to the Sarries jersey with two tries.

The game ended with a 16-point victory over Westshore, an outcome that elicited a congratulatory, “It’s about time,” response from former Canadian flanker and Westshore coach Barbara Mervin.

“The Westshore win really helped people understand that we’re a good team,” Sommer said. “The big thing for us is to make sure we keep our mentality up, making sure we know we can be a top contender for this league.”

Teams play each other twice during the regular season, which ends on April 18. The playoffs follow, so there’s lots of rugby to play. The next goal is to come out strong against Castaway this weekend and make progress on the gains from Westshore.

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