A 33-0 loss Sunday in Williams Lake was not what the Prince George Gnats rugby team had anticipated when they left home to take on the Williams Lake Rustlers.
"We had a lot of new faces on our squad and we were short a few bodies -- the score doesn't really signify what went on in the game," said Dave McMullen of the Gnats. "They got a few easy tries."
Sunday's loss left the Gnats with a 1-2 Central Interior Rugby Union record.
Josh Swain and Brendan Wolf were the players of the match for the Gnats.
The defending Provincial Independent Club champions will be on the field again June 18 at Kelly Road secondary school for a rematch against the Rustlers. McMullen expects his team to put up a better fight on that day.
"I believe things will be different when we play them again up here in two weeks," he said.
On June 25, the Gnats will host a day of CIRU action when teams from Vernon, Prince Rupert, Terrace and Smithers come to Kelly Road. Also on the Gnats' slate is the 32nd annual Williams Lake Stampede tournament, July 1-2.
"In June, we'll get the league games out of the way and have a bit of time off in July and August, and then provincials are in September [ at a site to be determined]," said McMullen. "It's a pretty competitive league right now, and we have to win our league to get back in the provincials."
Last year in Penticton, the Gnats won the B.C. title with a 15-12 win over the Kootenay Selects.
