VICTORIA, B.C. - The boys are back in town – and so is the offensive attack.

Buoyed by the return of national sevens stalwarts #Phil Mack#, #Nathan Hirayama# and #Sean Duke#, a balanced Vikes attack spread the field, with tries scored by nine different players in a 59-15 blowout of the Bayside Sharks in B.C. Premier League play at Wallace Field.

Head coach Doug Tate was quick to praise the play of the Vikes forwards for stalwart play.

“We had a superiority thing going with the forwards; our lineout drives were exceptional and our scrimmaging was very good to give us a good platform to attack from,” Tate said. “That was the big difference in the game.”

The tactical kicking of Hirayama made the difference in the early going. After a 35-metre penalty goal, Hirayama executed a clearing kick to the far corner of the end zone that bounced out well inside the Sharks' 22-metre line.

From there, hooker #Pat Riordan# tossed a quick lineout ball to No. 8 #Cam Pierce#, who caught Sharks by surprise and scampered across for the try.

Duke was the next try scorer, finding a seam near midfield and sprinting the distance to score; Hirayama converted to put UVic ahead 15-3.

The tactical kicking of Hirayama, Duke's impressive running and the cagey kicking and passing of scrum half Mack seemed to inspire the Vikes.

“Those three guys make a big difference,” Tate explained. “When those guys are in the lineup our younger guys play with more confidence, so it gives you a lift.”

Hard-running fullback #Keaton Styles# was the next across the line for UVic, taking a pass from 30 metres out and beating the Bayside defenders to the far corner.

Mack added a drop goal off a maul and it was 23-3.

A pushover try from a strong forward scrum was a credited to #Liam Murray#; Vikes led 30-3 at the half.

Forwards #Toni Wodzicki#, #Andrew Tiedemann# and captain Riordan were singled out by Tate as the men of the match for UVic.

“I'd say the forwards really did some nice things off the ball, moved it around and supported like crazy,” Tate added.

The second half was a mirror image of the first: rain, slate grey skies and lots of UVic tries.

Flanker open #Ian Manly# made an impressive run down the far sideline to put the Vikes ahead 35-3 before Riordan collected a loose ball, straight-armed a Sharks forward into the ground and rumbled the remaining 20 metres to touch it down between the posts.

Hirayama chipped over the convert and UVic led 42-3.

UVic's #Ty Hamblin# found the end zone next before Hirayama's sixth sense allowed him to avoid a blind side hit as he accepted a pass, then sidestepped left and fed a streaking #Willem duPlessis#, who crossed unscathed: Vikes 53-3.

Tiedemann concluded the scoring parade for UVic; the senior tight head prop tucked in behind a moving ruck and pounced on the ball as it crossed into the end zone.

The Sharks added two late tries in the late going to make the final score 59-15.

Hirayama led UVic with 11 points while Pete Clifford had 10 points for Bayside.

The Vikes tackle Burnaby next Saturday on the Lower Mainland in what is basically a important match not only for playoff positioning but to just reach the playoffs in hopes of defending their Rounsefell Cup win.

“I think the top five teams in the league are good,” Tate concluded. “Any one of them could win the thing.”