P.A. Whiskey Jacks defeat Saskatoon Oats 22-17 after two weeks off

The Prince Albert Whiskey Jacks hadn’t played a game in two weeks before facing the Oats in Saskatoon on Saturday, but the visitors showed no signs of rust as they defeated the home side 22-17. With the win, P.A. now has a 3-2 record on the season.

“The score was a lot closer than the game was,” Whiskey Jacks player/coach Darcy Murphy said.

“We really dominated on the field in a lot of ways: Our aggression and our tackling for sure, our rucking, our scrummaging. They’re probably the best scrummaging team in the province and we held our own. We won all our own scrums and we even stole one from them.”

The Whiskey Jacks were scheduled to face the Oats on July 15, but the game was cancelled and will occur later this month. Murphy said taking an additional week away from competitive play is usually detrimental to a team’s performance.

“It’s like climbing a mountain. You don’t want to slide back down; you want to keep the momentum forward and usually it’s tough to get back in the groove after that long of a break,” he said.

“On one hand, I’m not surprised we came out and dominated because we were eager to get back on the field, but on the other hand we didn’t have too much rust to shake off.”

For more on this story, please read the Prince Albert Daily Herald¹s subscription-based print or e-editions.