Blizzard trying to improve at rugby nationals

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 03/08/2019 (2267 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Federico Vargas sees big things coming for the Prairie Blizzard men’s rugby team.

While it’s still a young squad and one building for the future, he’s seen vast improvements as the squad gears up for the under-19 Canadian rugby championship, which begins Monday in St. John’s, N.L.

That team went winless, being outscored 122-6 in two pool matches and then receiving 48-19 and 51-15 beatings from the Alberta Wolf Pack in the two-leg fifth-place matchup.

“It’s very different from last year. Last year it probably took us halfway to the end of the tournament to really come together as a team. This year we’ve been becoming a team from the training instead of when we’re already at nationals,” Vargas said. “Last year there were a lot of younger kids, me included … There were a lot of older guys who we didn’t really know who they were.

“This year it’s more of a mix of guys we’ve played U18 with and against. It’s more of a mix of people we know and get along with.”

This year’s group includes Brandon forwards Payton Teneycke, Rico Pretorius, Ethen Demchynski and back Logan Sedgwick, along with Zack Thexton of Souris and Logan Conrad of McCreary, and coach Brian Yon of Brandon.

The five-foot-six, 160-pound Vargas was the youngest player on last year’s squad. Now the 17-year-old is entering his fourth season with a provincial or inter-provincial team — the Blizzard features the top players from Manitoba and Saskatchewan — and he just finished his final Westman High School Rugby season at Souris. He’s excited to put all that experience on display as he lines up as the No. 9, and sometimes as the No. 15 at the back for the Blizzard.

Over these years he’s learned a thing or two about what it takes to compete on the national stage.

“Game-wise for me as an individual the biggest improvement for me was defence, completely,” Vargas said. “What I learned the most is you can’t be an individual. If you have a bunch of individual players on a team, you’re not going to go anywhere. If you have 15 average players who work amazingly well together, you’re going to have a good team. It’s just about working together and not being that one star.”

The Blizzard certainly has a star to suit up alongside Vargas. Winnipeg’s Mikko Vorster plays the No. 10, and competed for the U18 Team Canada earlier this summer.

“I’ve played with him for these whole four years and been good buddies with him for a while. That experience he gained and the stuff he brings back for everyone, it just brings up your rugby IQ, your knowledge so much more. It’s a great thing to have,” Vargas said.

It’s helping the rest of the team as well. They’ve been hard at work and committed to weekend training camps in both provinces leading up to nationals.

It’s Teneycke’s first time with the U19 squad, though he’s played for the U16 and U18 provincial teams in previous years. The six-foot, 205-pound back row man says it’s a big step up when the Saskatchewan players are added to the mix.

“Everyone on the team’s a good player, there’s no doubt about that. The jump from when I played U16 to U18 was a huge jump. Even this is a bigger jump because you’re playing 19 and 20 year olds. All the teams we’ll play are really good teams,” Teneycke said.

In May, Teneycke captained the Vincent Massey Vikings to their first WHSR title since 2006, dethroning Sedgwick and Demchynski’s four-time defending champion Crocus Plainsmen. He says it’s been fun to suit up alongside his rivals and likes what they bring to the table for nationals.

“I like it. Both Logan and Ethen are really good players so I enjoy playing with them,” Teneycke said. “We’re a faster team. We’re not the biggest team but all of us are decently quick so if we can use that on the field we should be in pretty good shape.”

Sedgwick, who’s also playing quarterback for the Westman Wolverines junior football team this year, adds it’s the highest level of rugby he’s played. The five-foot-11, 185-pound Crocus graduate noticed the jump from U18 right away.

“Just your mindset, coming into every game just wanting to absolutely kill the other guy and doing it, just being really physical,” he said. “The competition’s going to be a pretty big step up. The coaches expect a lot more from us. Every phase, they want us to play really well.”

The Blizzard take on the Atlantic Rock on Monday at 4:30 p.m., then play Ontario on Tuesday at 3 p.m. After an off day on Wednesday, Prairie plays Quebec on Thursday at 3 p.m., and a champion will be determined that evening based on overall standings.

As for expectations for the Blizzard after a winless 2018 tournament, the team is staying cautious.

“Our coach put it pretty well. The score doesn’t matter, obviously we want to go out there and win, but the score isn’t what they’re looking the most at,” Vargas said. “They’re looking at how you react to certain situations. This year we still have a fairly young team, we’re basically a team of U18 at a U19 tournament. We’re trying to build it up for next year, because I feel that will be one of our best years and the year after that as well.”

» tfriesen@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @thomasmfriesen