Barbarians learn valuable lessons from Assassins

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This article was published 10/07/2023 (1031 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Short-term pain for long-term gain might be the lasting message from the Brandon Barbarians’ 75-0 loss to the Winnipeg Assassins on Saturday afternoon in a Rugby Manitoba crossover game at John Reilly Field.

For a young Barbarians side that is competing in the Premier Division 2 circuit this season, it was a firsthand look at what makes the Assassins a perennial threat in the Premier Division 1 ranks.

“We knew coming in that this was going to be a really tough matchup and it ended up being that way right from the word go,” Barbarians head coach Adam Kowalchuk said.

“Our boys are so young and sometimes you need to have an experience like this in order to learn what it is like to play the big teams.”

While the Barbarians showed flashes throughout the game, which nearly results in a successful try in the final minutes of the second half, they spent most of the afternoon trying to slow down an Assassins squad that took advantage of their opportunities.

“It was an eye-opener … 100 per cent,” Kowalchuk said.”We have a lot of guys on our team that are coming from football and other sports, while the Assassins have a lot of grizzled veterans that know how to play.

“Our younger guys got to see what rugby players looked liked today.”

Despite the lopsided result, Kowalchuk noted that were some positives that the Barbarians can take from Saturday’s contest, especially as several players got to play in different positions as the game went on.

“One of the things that I saw was that our guys were bringing that aggressive intensity to make tackles, which is something that we had been lacking over our first few games,” Kowalchuk said.

“The guys were communicating out there and when things were pouring down on us, we saw some great leadership from a few guys. Hopefully, they can take that role even further as we go forward.”

Assassins fly-half Jarett McLaughlin was impressed by the fact that Barbarians didn’t have their heads down when things got tough.

“Whenever we come to Brandon, the Barbarians always provide a big challenge to us,” McLaughlin said.

“They are a big tough team and they always play physical. Even when we pulled ahead, we never expected things to get easy. Brandon played right until the end and it turned out to be a hard-hitting game.”

The 2-2 Barbarians look to get back on the winning track on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. when they welcome the Wasps to town for another crossover game.

“If we all come prepared for practice on Tuesday and Thursday and make sure we are organized out there, that will dictate how we play against the Wasps,” Kowalchuk said.

The senior women’s Barbarians (1-2) are also returning to the pitch at 1 p.m. Saturday for a matchup with the Wasps at John Reilly Field.

The Barbarians are coming off a dominant 61-17 win over the Brumbies in Winnipeg on June 24.

» lpunkari@brandonsun.com

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