Trinity Western University's men's rugby team travelled to California in early March, taking in a variety of elite-level rugby-playing environments before competing against the LA Giltinis Academy in a Sunday afternoon tilt that saw the Spartans score five tries but lose 66-32 in Long Beach, Calif. 

Against the Giltinis Academy, which acts as a developmental program for the defending MLR (Major League Rugby) champion Giltinis, the Spartans saw five different try scorers dot down, including Lynden Duggan (Burnaby, B.C.), Nate Schroeder (West Kelowna, B.C.), Ethan Bernardin (Langley), Connor Bernardin (Langley) and Jan Lourens (Smoky Lake, Alta.). Flyhalf Keegan Marengo (Johannesburg, South Africa) kicked a penalty and two conversions. 

Beyond the contest with the Giltinis Academy, the Spartans also spent time with the Giltinis professional side as well as training alongside the Belmont Shore Rugby Club. 

The Spartans return to the pitch Saturday when they play United Rugby Club in BC Rugby Division 2 action at Hume Park in New Westminster, B.C. at 12:45 p.m. TWU will then travel to play No. 7-ranked Central Washington University Mar. 19 in Ellensburg, Wash.

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Andrew Evans – TWU Director of Rugby
"This was a tour for the year, so we brought a mix of players and everyone got some good minutes and it was a really positive experience that way. For many of these players, this was their first tour with us and taking rugby seriously on the road at this level is a different experience than what they may have done in the past. "From a training perspective, we had some really good sessions. We focused on our attack while we were down there, as we were trying to get more cohesion between our game managers and our forwards and our backs. At the end of the day, we wanted to score some points this weekend. 

"While down there, we also took in a professional training environment and developed some good ties with the Giltinis. They were gracious enough to have us come to a training session and then we went to their headquarters to see what goes on there and see what pro rugby looks like. A special thanks to Kevin Battle (the Giltinis Team Manager and Director of Operations) and Dave Clancy (the Head Coach of the Giltinis Academy) and all the Giltinis coaches for having us in. 

"We definitely want to go back and ideally we make this an annual event in which we go down and play the Giltinis Academy and hopefully also play some of the California universities. There are a lot of good university program down there and it was a lot of fun to play some warm weather rugby. It's a different style of rugby and our boys were getting the ball in hand a lot and were scoring some nice tries. We've been mangled with injuries and health issues, so some players didn't make this trip because of that, so we hope to have them down in the future on these California trips. 

"One of the visions we have is that we are a team that competes globally – not just here in Canada." 

On the game against the Giltinis Academy
"It looked like we didn't address our defence, which was the case, as we were really wanting to focus on our offence this week. Most of the teams that we've played this season outweigh us by 10 to 15 kilos per man. That's a reality for us that is a challenge and we're not happy that they scored 66 points against us. Our men are aggressive, but it's physics and often we come up second best. The Giltinis players are big men and they can move. It was warm weather rugby and by the end of the day, we ended up with a Super Rugby score, but it was a fun day. Fortunately, our cohesion is coming and to score five tries against a quality side was a success for us. 

"The boys can be really proud of what they accomplished. We also gave some good quality minutes to our subs. Samual Holinaty (Summerland, B.C.) and Zach Brimmage (St. Albert, Alta.) and Max Darcy (Calgary) all got in and played well and I felt like our level didn't drop off and we were able to score some tries. 

"Matt Willemse (Pietermaritzburg, South Africa) was phenomenal and so was Caleb Gerth (Langley). Matt had a phenomenal day kicking and I think he's one of the greatest kickers in Canada right now. On that day, I think he was the best kicker in California. 

"It showed on attack that our leaders were elevating their teammates up. I think Jan Lourens was a great leader for us and played some great rugby. Keegan Marengo was solid as well for us. There were so many positives."

About Spartan Athletics
As official members of U SPORTS, the Spartans currently compete in 13 sports in the Canada West conference, including women's and men's soccer, volleyball, basketball, hockey, cross country and track & field, as well as women's rugby sevens. TWU also competes as an independent team in men's rugby. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 12 U SPORTS team championships and 29 Canada West team championships.

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