Give it a 'try': Corner Brook athletes hope rugby showcase brings new faces to sport

Rugby players in Corner Brook are ready to showcase the sport this weekend, hosting the first sanctioned matches in the city in over 30 years.

The West Coast Wanderers, a local team that was created in 2019, is hosting Rugby Day in Corner Brook at Corner Brook Regional High School on Saturday. The event will feature two sessions for people to try out touch rugby, along with exhibition matches against the Swilers Rugby Club of St. John's.

Steve Best, a rugby player for much of his life and a member of the Wanderers, said the matches will be the first official games in Corner Brook since he was a high schooler.

"The last time there would have been a competitive rugby game in Corner Brook would have been in the late 1980s," Best said Thursday. "I would have played in that game, and I'm playing as well on Saturday. So I'm very much looking forward to that."

Saturday will also feature a women's rugby sevens match, which Best says will be the first of its kind in the city.

Rugby player Sam Pomeroy, who spent time playing tackle rugby on the Avalon Peninsula, says it's exciting to return to competitive play for the first time since moving to Corner Brook.

"Being a part of something that's never really happened before in the area is super, super-exciting," Pomeroy said. "And just getting, I guess, different groups of people out to play the sport is something that we're really looking forward to."

Much of the rugby played in Corner Brook is touch rugby, Pomeroy said, an almost non-contact version of the sport that allows skilful play without the threat of heavy tackles or serious injury.

It's a great entry point to the sport of rugby, she said, especially in a region where hockey, basketball and baseball reign supreme.

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