Lethbridge Rugby Club teams get wins on 50th year celebration weekend

By Lethbridge Herald on July 18, 2022.

Herald File Photo Lethbridge Rugby Club men’s player Kade Langevin battles for posession of the ball in the pile as teammate Alex Halvorsen tries to block a Calgary Saracens defender win this July file photo.

By Justin Seward

Lethbridge Herald

The Lethbridge Rugby Club’s men’s and women’s  teams squared off against the  Calgary Saracens on the 50th year  celebration weekend in front of alumni cheering them on.

The women’s team began with a 29-26 victory in the first game.

“So that was a nice win under our belts and now with the heat and everything, it was a tougher game for us,” said women’s  head coach Abby Neudorf.

“But it was really nice to have a full roster this time and get a lot of girls out and just people excited to play the sport again after COVID kind of thing.”

She agreed it was a close game on Saturday.

“Yeah, back and forth a lot more, just with holes in the defence a bit and sneaky backs on their part, which is a good challenge. It’s fun to play against a good team.”

She thinks the season has been solid so far with what the team has available.

“ It’s been a challenge with the shortage in numbers,” she said.

“We’ve been able to hold our own with our numbers and give other teams a challenge and luckily everyone has been really courteous for us and matching our numbers for the most part.”

The men’s team took care of business on the field with a 67-17 victory to remain undefeated at 6-0 on the season.

“For the most part, we played really good,” said LRC men’s coach Ryan McKeown.

“We did have some areas that we noticed we need to work on. So it’s weird to be a 6-0 team that is winning by 50 points but we have to improve on and we can get better as the season goes on.”

LRC scored five times before Calgary scored one try.

“We scored a bunch before they score a couple more and then we scored a couple to end the game,” said McKeown.

“We were well in hand for most of the game. But the team we were playing, despite the score showing what it did, they didn’t really give up the entire game. They played hard the whole way through. But we did not take our foot off the gas this time.”

McKeown said what’s part of making them successful this year is everyone is on the field and everyone has training.

“We’re working together to play the same style,” he said.

“We don’t have any egos getting in the way or guys trying to run different directions. We have the whole team playing together — that’s the best way to play rugby.”