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Algonquins tackle rugby
By NEVILLE CRABBE
ST. ANDREWS – On Tuesday in St. Stephen a group of 21 kids from Sir James Dunn Academy will make history when they take to the field for a rugby match versus the Spartans - the first rugby team to ever wear the Algonquins’ logo.
The fact that the St. Andrews high school now has a boys’ rugby program is no coincidence. After starting the rugby team and teaching for 13 years at Fundy High School, David O’Leary transferred across the county to take the principal’s job at SJDA. He saw a school rich with talent and lacking male sports teams, a perfect fit, he thought, for a start-up rugby squad.
The fact that only two of the 21 players registered have any rugby experience does not discourage O’Leary.
“I honestly think, looking back to the first team I ever coached, that we’re that much further ahead than the first Fundy team that stepped onto the field 13-years ago,” said O’Leary, pointing to a number of pure athletes whose talent, he believes, will compensate for lack of experience.
Nick Kohler will play centre for the Algonquins. A towering senior, Kohler captained and anchored the blue-line for the provincial champion Fundy Can-Am Cobras Midget hockey team. O’Leary hopes he can put his size and natural athleticism to work on the grass.
“He’s a big strong boy for his age and there’s not many guys in high school that are as big and strong as he is,” said O’Leary. “Especially with his ability to run he will make a big difference, most guys in the pack his size are slow and out of shape, but he can really run.”
At outside centre he will start Andrew Leavitt, a natural scorer at soccer and hockey, who, according to O’Leary will not shy away from the rough stuff. Full back, Quinn McCurdy will be expected to make an impact with what O’Leary described as quick hands and a monster kick.
At scrum half, where a team’s offence is born, the veteran coach has tapped Pat Lord. Another talented athlete as comfortable on the soccer pitch as he is on ice, O’Leary said that during practice, Lord is often one step ahead of him when it comes to creativity. Asking where he picked up his knowledge, Lord told his coach he had been watching rugby on YouTube and studying the premier players.
“The kid has really become a steward of the game, he’s got a very quick foot and that’s what we need in that position,” said O’Leary.
Although he admits there will be a learning curve while his players get their first game experience, O’Leary said that rugby is different from other sports and it doesn’t take a lifetime of work to fit in on the field.
“Unlike hockey or basketball where, to compete, you have to start at a very young age, with rugby, if you’re athletic, if you can run, jump and catch the ball then you can be taught your position.”
Regardless of his players’ talent level, O’Leary is realistic about his team’s prospects as an expansion club in a highly-competitive conference. Playing in the five-team NBIAA “AA” South pool, in addition to St. Stephen and Rothesay High School, the Algonquins will butt up against the defending provincial champion Fundy Mariners and perennial powerhouse Rothesay Netherwood School, provincial finalists of one year ago that defeated Fundy 14-12 in their opening game of the season.
“We will compete, there’s no question about that, but as to the degree I’m not certain,” said O’Leary.
His goal for the season is to win two games, compete hard and escape injury.
In the run-up to the Tuesday match versus the Spartans, the principal has put his players through boot camp. For the past two weeks the Algonquins have practiced four out of seven days, two hours at a time. They will hit the field for a one-hour practice after school before the game.
For O’Leary, who was the face of Mariners sports for over a decade, coaching the high school boy’s hockey team as well as spurring the rugby program, wearing red and white and coaching against his old school won’t be easy.
“The first game against (the Mariners) is going to be very tough, I’ve got a lot of pride and heritage there,” said O’Leary, who keeps pictures of his old teams in his home study. “But you always have to move on, be proud of where you are and make new heritage.”
Tuesday’s game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start at St. Stephen High School.
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