St. Georges graduate James Pitblado scored the winning try in the dying minutes of the national final to lift B.C. to a second U19 Canadian rugby championship July 21.
Trailing 13-10 for the majority of the second half, a powerful surge by Abbotsford scrum half Jorden Sandover-Best closed the gap and invited Pitblado to deliver his late heroics. B.C. spun the ball wide to the winger and he scored the pivotal try to go ahead two points and defeat the host Prairie Wolf Pack 15-13.
"We were down but had most of the possession for the final 20 minutes," said B.C. head coach Kris de Scossa in a news release. "We were very good at using our bench throughout the tournament and again it really helped when we brought on fresh legs. We stuck to the process and were creating scoring opportunities and finally it came with under a minute to play."
The two sides met the day before in the final match of the round-robin. B.C. won 33-15. B.C. reached the final undefeated, outscoring its opponents 98-47.
Ontario took home third place with a convincing 53-3 win over Ontario East-Quebec reps, the Voyageurs.
