Rugby, Randall and retirement

By Bob Mackin

Got rugby, if you want it.

Lots of it. All you can eat, wall-to-wall rugby as the pointy-ball people converge on Point Grey and Delta to determine the best of British Columbia.

It's provincial championship weekend and the University of B.C. will be the epicentre. Tries aplenty, guaranteed. Don't like scrums, then you might as well scram!

Five matches at Wolfson Fields at UBC and three at Thunderbird Stadium tomorrow.

Velox Valhallians' men's team, led by player/coach Winston Stanley, meets Victoria rival James Bay Athletic Association for the 2006 Canadian Direct Insurance League Championship. Pat Dunkley, who played alongside Stanley with the national team, leads James Bay.

Saturday action also includes United RFC meeting Burnaby Lake RFC in the women's Premier League title match. United RFC is also contesting the Division II championship against Abbotsford RFC. Kamloops RFC, meanwhile, meets Velox for Division I supremacy.

Langley RFC goes at it with Brit Lions in Division I men's play, while it's Vancouver Rowing Club versus Brit Lions in Division II play. Nanaimo RFC and Capilano are in the Division III final.

Women kick off the action at 11:30 a.m. Tickets are $15 general admission and $10 for youths under 15.

Delta's John Oliver Park hosts Sunday's trio of age-grade provincials. Capilano RFC is bidding for the Tier I title against Vancouver Rowing Club in the under-14 division, while the Caps' C-team meets Abbotsford RFC in Tier II. Vancouver Island invaders Cowichan RFC meet Richmond RFC in an under-16 grudge match.

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I was amiss in neglecting to mention Sam Randall in the A to Z of horse racing a few weeks back.

Randall, the "father of horse racing in B.C.," entered the biz in the 1920s and ran both Hastings Park and Lansdowne Park, plus the Willows track on Vancouver Island. He endured the Depression, but retired after a stroke in 1953.

Lansdowne eventually became the shopping mall in Richmond after Lower Mainland racing dates were consolidated at Hastings under Jack Diamond's ownership. Randall is a member of both the Canadian and B.C. hall of fames and his legacy continues at Victoria's Sandown track. It's still in the Randall family, but is operated by Great Canadian Gaming.

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Figure skating's loss could be golf's gain after Vancouver ice dance duo Megan Wing and Aaron Lowe retired this week.

They appeared in five world championships and were 11th at the Torino Winter Olympics in February. With amateur sports funding always scarce in Canada, they resorted to an annual golf tournament to pay their training and travel bills.

"Last August was our 10th annual," Lowe said. "It was actually at Green Acres golf course in Richmond, Megan's uncle Ken helps us run the thing. He's been a big supporter."

Retirement from figure skating will allow Lowe to play more than a couple times each summer and consistently shoot sub-90 rounds. It'll also give him more time to complete a master's degree at the University of Windsor in sports management. Wing, meanwhile, is studying for a social psychology degree.

published on 04/28/2006