Since Seattle Rugby Club and OPSB merged to form Seattle-OPSB the club has not shied away from its goal of being the best. All one has to do is look at their roster to realize that they are stacked. Lou Stanfill, Olive Kilifi, Shalom Suniula, Shawn Pittman, and Miles Craigwell have all been involved with the Eagles recently. John Cullen, Matt Trouville, Will Haydock, TC Elliott and others have been involved in Eagles training camps. Even further, players like Craigwell, Rocco Mauer, Mike Palefau, and Peter Tiberio have been involved in the 7s team. Add to that players like Emosi Vucago and William Rasileka who have played for Fiji in the past and you get what could be considered the best club in North America.
Take the jump to read more.
With so many U.S. stars on the roster the expectation is that they will compete at the highest level. For them that comes in the form of the BC Premier League, which they can gain admission to this weekend if they defeat the University of British Columbia in the Okanagan Spring Brewery League final in Vancouver. UBC was the only team that defeated them throughout the year and that only came when Seattle-OPSB was missing a number of players due to national team duty.
The choice to focus on the BC Premier League can seem odd to those around the country but for Seattle-OPSB it makes perfect sense. The closest DI opponent to the club is a long day's drive away in Northern California. There are plenty of strong DII sides in the region--Snake River, Eastside--but Seattle-OPSB's DII side would beat them all (the Orcas are also in the final of their division). The club traveled all of last season when they participated in DI and it took a lot out of the team both physically and financially. Some teams in NorCal even refused to travel to Seattle. By contrast traveling to any of the teams in the BC Premier League can be done in a day. Sure they require ferry rides and crossing the border but that is far better than expensive flights or 12 hours in a car.
The BC Premier League also offers the best top to bottom competition in the country. Teams like Burnaby Lake, James Bay, Castaway Wanderers and other are stuffed with Canadian internationals. Even in the lower division that Seattle-OPSB are currently in UBC have a number of players that have been in the Canadian system at either the U-20, A, or 7s level. Because you can play year round and the clubs are well funded they draw in the top players from all over Canada and even the United States. Nick Wallace and Graham Harriman have played for James Bay this Spring. If Seattle-OPSB joins the competition and replaces Meraloma, the only bad team in the competition, than it is a scary good competition.
When you talk to the folks at the club they definitely aren't opposed to playing American competition. They were fully committed to participating in the Elite Cup before it fell apart. They aren't opposed to playing in the Pacific Rugby Premiership either. However, even at a well supported club like Seattle-OPSB it is about maximizing resources and right now that is focusing on the BC Premier League.
All this means that next year the top U.S. players could be spread around in three "elite" competitions--the BC Premier League, the Pacific Rugby Premiership, and the Atlantic Rugby Premiership (or whatever it's called that the East Coast chooses to do next year). While it would be nice to have them all in one convenient league the fact that teams like Seattle-OPSB and others are seeking out higher levels of competition is only a good thing. Our elite club seasons need to be longer and challenge players more if we want our domestic Eagles to compete internationally. Seattle-OPSB is simply doing that their own way, which isn't a bad thing.
Seattle-OPSB plays UBC Saturday at 4:30 p.m. pt at Brockton Oval in Vancouver. The Oval is located in the heart of Stanley Park and offers one of the best settings on the continent. Tickets are $10.