VICTORIA – For the fourth time this season the UVic Vikes men's rugby team came up just short in a game against their crosstown rivals: the Castaway Wanderers.
 
Falling 25-20 to the Wanderers on March 4, the Vikes are now 2-3 in their BC Premier League schedule with three games left to play. The Wanderers meanwhile move to 4-0 and are one of just two teams that remain undefeated in the league.
 
The Vikes were led in scoring by Johnny Franklin who scored two tries on the day. In the last two games Franklin has three tries for the Vikes, providing an important scoring threat for a team that is still missing multiple players due to injury and national team commitments.
 
Fergus Hall had another solid day in the kicking game, notching two conversions and a penalty. Rounding out the scoring for the Vikes was James Pitblado, who knocked through a drop goal in the first half.
 
The Vikes led 17-13 at the half but were unable to stop the Wanderers from knotting the score at 20 early in the second half. The game stayed tied for much of the half until the Wanderers took the lead for good with just five minutes left to play.
 
A late push for the tie went for nothing, as the Vikes were held just off the try line on the final play of the game.
 
"Good overall performance for us and we had some excellent chances to win the game but just got taken out of bounds," said Vikes head coach Doug Tate.
 
SCORING SUMMARY
                1        2           F
UVIC      17        3          20
CW         13        12        25

SCORERS 
Johnny Franklin (2T), Fergus Hall (2C 1P), James Pitblado (1DG)