Cochrane high school rugby teams finished their regular seasons on a high note in Springbank, May 18, as they continue to build momentum towards their upcoming playoffs.

The boys Bears got off to a slow start but improved as the game progressed and went on to win 45-0.

Head coach Karl Bauer used the game to give valuable field experience to his younger players. It's a strategy he has stuck to all season.

"The biggest thing--and I've talked about all season--is to get our juniors up to speed," says Bauer. "We've got a really strong grade 12 core this year but we're trying to get more and more depth to our team. This game was a huge help for that and I think we saw the improvement even during the course of the game. I think we only had one score in the first 15 minutes and by half time we had four or five. It was just a big improvement all around with those guys."

The Bears are coming into a bye week and will use the time to play in a competitive Sevens tournament at West Island College. Then it's off to the zones against Strathmore on June 1.

Bauer makes no bones about their determination for a shot at a provincial tier 2 title.

"I'm expecting a lot out of these guys," says Bauer. "We're hoping to do better than last year, I think we're a little disappointed in ourselves. There were some small lapses in discipline and maybe even some coaching errors there, but I think we've got a better squad this year, more rounded out squad for sure, and I think we have a pretty decent shot at making the podium."

The Wild girls team may have lost their game against the favoured Springbank squad, but they did give them a scare. The Wild scored first before Springbank's offense bulldozed their way into the lead. The Wild refused to be tamed, though, and put together successive drives that briefly gave them the lead. The Phoenix scored two tries late in the game to win, 37-26.

"It was close, probably the closest we've ever played against Springbank," says Wild assistant coach Curtis Piche. 

Now comes the playoffs and coming on strong against Springbank is something tthe team wants to build upon.

"It gives us hope," says Piche. "Definitely the big thing that comes into play is that we know we can hold our own against tough teams like Springbank and like Holy Trinity. and that's who we're playing, Holy Trinity,. Our first hurdle is to try to step up to the same level that we've been playing."

The Wild beat Holy Trinity earlier this season, but the slate is clean for their May 25 match in Okotoks.

"We're going into the game knowing we've beat them before, but over the season everyone's gotten better," says Piche. "So we can't go in thinking that we're going to pull ahead. We've got to go in thinking it's like every other rugby game; we've got to fight."