There’s no need to go to Oxford or Cambridge for a first-rate British education.
A pair of High Country girls got an education and valuable experience on the rugby pitch.
Black Diamond’s Harley Tucker and Turner Valley’s Rylee Stone were members of Team Canada U18, which lost a pair of games to the England Talent Development Group in Devon County, England earlier this month.
“Overall it was a good experience. I learned a lot and I feel my mental game improved more than anything,” said Tucker, who played lock for Team Canada. “The most beneficial thing was having feedback all the time.
“We analyzed a lot of game film to see what we did wrong and right — what adjustments we need to make.”
Tucker played about 60 minutes of the first game, a 41-17 loss on April 5. She went in to replace an injured Stone at outside flanker at the end of the game.
“Before the game, I was a little nervous, but as soon as you make your first hit, it all goes away,” Tucker said. “You get that confidence that you know you can take them down… You realize that you are all just rugby girls.”
She added the Canadians had a chance to converse with the England girls after the match. Team Canada was able to close the gap in a 17-12 loss on April 9.
Stone agreed it was a valuable experience.
“When you are playing against girls who are at that high of level, honestly, they bring you up to that level,” Stone said. “The systems that are run and the professionalism of the teams, at the international level it’s professional all the time.
“It’s a lot more relaxed here (at high school and City representative teams).”
She said Team Canada showed marked improvement in its second game, the five-point loss.
“In the first game we got out-paced in the backs. England was really good at reading the lines,” said Stone, who started at outside flanker. “The atmosphere was pretty intense.”
Ironically, Tucker’s and Stone’s first game back from across the pond was against one another. Tucker was a no. 8 for the Oilfields Drillers while Stone played the same position for the Holy Trinity Academy Knights when the two teams played Big Sky Rugby Union action April 13 in Okotoks.
“It was fun, fairly competitive,” Stone said with a laugh. “She tackled me a few times and I got her.
“We got each other, it was pretty good.”
Tucker agreed.
“I didn’t really notice, when I play I don’t really see faces — they are the opposition,” she said. “But we talked to each other after the game.”
Oilfields Drillers coach Kyle Rawson said having Tucker on the pitch is like having a coach on the young squad.
“The players see her as a peer, but because she has so much experience it is like having a second coach,” Rawson said.
“She is able to make adjustments that I couldn’t and the girls are very receptive to it.”
The Grade 12 Tucker will play for the Calgary Hornets and potentially the Prairie Wolf Pack this summer. She plans to attend Acadia University in Nova Scotia this fall, where she plans to play for the Axewomen.
Stone, a Grade 11 student, is playing for the Calgary Rams this summer after completing her duties with the Knights.
