Welcome to Varsity Letters’ B.C. Big 5, our daily look at the Top 5 Players of the Day during the 2017 B.C. Secondary Schools Rugby Union provincial championships.
They may not all play on the top teams, or be the names most often mentioned, but they all played huge roles as their respective teams opened the playdowns at Abbotsford’s Rotary Stadium complex.
Adam Roberts, freshly-minted as promotions officer for the BCSSRU will make his daily picks exclusively for Varsity Letters over the course of the provincials.
PATRICK CHO
Scrum half, R.E. Mountain Eagles (Langley)
The skinny — The native of Burma was at his best Wednesday at Rotary Stadium, scoring a pair of tries as his Langley-based school provided perhaps the biggest upset of the day.
The No. 6 seeded Eagles beat No. 3 seed Handsworth Royals by a 45-21 count in the AAA Tier 1 section.
ROWAN MEGALE
Outside centre, L.V. Rogers Bombers (Nelson)
The skinny — Don’t doubt his base of strength. Megale is a power-lifter who recently set the B.C. junior squat record.
Looking to play rugby next season with the UVic Vikes, the Bombers’ standout scored a pair of tries on Wednesday, as his No. 2 seeded team toppled Langley’s No. 5 DW poppy RedHawks 24-5 in the AA Tier 2 quarterfinals.
JARED LOWENSTEIN
No. 8, Pentiction Lakers
The skinny — The Okanagan Grade 11 loves the great outdoors, but he counts his play at No. 8 for the Lakers ahead of his love for hiking and snowboarding.
On Wednesdsay, Lowenstein, a true chemistry player on his team, scored a pair of tries as the Lakers, a No. 5 seed in the AAA Tier 2 ranks, beat No. 4 seeded Kitsilano by an impressive 50-26 count.
RYAN LESKIW
Fullback, Carson Graham Eagles (North Vancouver)
The skinny — A three-sport Grade 11 standout, rugby figures to be his collegiate-aged choice in another year.
Baseball, soccer and the jumping into the Cap River are listed as some of his loves.
Leskiw scored one try Wednesday as No. 1 AAA Tier 1 Carson Graham opened with a comprehensive 55-0 win over No. 8 Belmont.
THOMAS BLACKBURN
Fly-half, Elgin Park Orcas (Surrey)
The skinny — The senior Canadian U-17 toured Jamaica in 2016 and is known in local circles as the Peyton Manning of Fly-Halfs.
UVic-bound, and with his nagging injuries behind him, Blackburn had five steals Wednesday and was generally all over the field, however his No. 5-seeded Orcas fell 43-12 to the No. 4 WJ Mouat Hawks.
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