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CDS Rugby girls earn 11th consecutive CISAA championship

May 27, 2015   ·   0 Comments

The Country Day School senior girls’ rugby team captured their 11th straight CISAA title on home field.

By Jake Courtepatte
Pushed to the brink by a Trinity College squad desperate to end a dynasty, the Country Day School girls’ rugby team was able to pick up their 11th CISAA title in a row over the weekend.
“It was a war,” said head coach Dave Downer. “Trinity came out with everything – I think they were looking to steal one from us. They had a really close game against us during the season, so they gave it their all this time around.”
It was the second time in three days that the schools faced off on the pitch, with CDS holding onto a slim 5-0 victory the previous Tuesday on a try from Rachel Wong. The win gave the Cyclones home-field advantage for the championship match up, held Friday on Hawksworth Field.
Scoreless heading into the second half for the second game in a row, the girls managed to shut out the opposition once again. When a TCS player earned a yellow card to head to the sidelines for 10 minutes, the relentless attacks of the CDS offence wore down Trinity. McKinley Hunt punched in the first try of the game shortly after the penalty expired, followed by Kassie Clark closing the game on a strong note with a try of her own for a final score of 14-0.
CDS Teacher, Andy MacMillan, said after the game: “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a CDS game, boys or girls, so physical, nor as many athletes get up off the deck and return to play!”
Downer has been coaching the team for two years, but can already see that the rugby program shows no signs of slowing down.
“It’s just one of those prestige programs, where girls keep coming in and wanting to play rugby for us. It’s like a machine, we just keep cycling in great new athletes.”
Twelve of the 35 girls are moving on from CDS after this year, a number that Downer said is a normal turnover rate. Hunt, the captain of this year’s squad, is  heading to Queen’s University in Kingston to lace up for the Gaels.

         

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