VICTORIA, B.C. – On Friday night under the lights of Centennial Stadium, the University of Victoria Vikes men's rugby team will take on crosstown rivals James Bay in one of the most anticipated match-ups of the regular season.
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The University of Victoria Vikes enter the competition with a record of 1-1 in the Premier league and are coming off of a 54-28 win over the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds in their first game of the 42nd edition of the Wightman Boot series.
The Vikes have received a welcome boost to their back line with the return of Jamie Mackenzie, who has been playing overseas for a year in the UK although missing in the line-up are Phil Mack and Sean Duke as they will be en route to Australia for the first leg of the IRB Sevens World Series. Consistently in the ruck and generating turnovers, UVic's open side flanker Chase Kelliher has done well for the Vikes while veterans Tony LaCarte (Surrey, BC) and Remi Anctil (Vancouver, BC) have also been key to the Vikes' success in their past three matches.
“James Bay is always a very physical team,” said Vikes head coach Doug Tate. “We struggled with them within the last year, they have a lot of talented players but they'll be missing a few of them this weekend. They're a good side and you can't really prepare for them one way or another because their line-up's always changing due to national team commitments.”
The University of Victoria Vikes kick off against James Bay Friday night, Oct. 5, at 7:00 p.m. in Centennial Stadium.
