The Prince Albert Whiskey Jacks are gearing up for their biggest game in club history.
On Saturday at the Regina Rugby Club Field, the Whiskey Jacks will have a chance to capture the Division II provincial championship, as they’ll go up against the Regina Condors at 4 p.m.
“We have a chance to make some history here and an opportunity like this doesn’t come around every day,” Whiskey Jacks head coach Dominic Elsbury said.
“Our practices have been going really well for the last couple of weeks here and everyone’s looking forward to Saturday’s game.”
Coming off of a 63-32 win in the provincial semifinal on Aug. 25 against the Saskatoon Gophers, the Whiskey Jacks had to wait until this past weekend to find out who their opponent would be as the Condors defeated the Regina Highlanders in the other semifinal.
“The last time we played the Condors in our first game of the season,” Whiskey Jacks forward Darcy Murphy said. “Both of us have really improved a lot since then and our lineups are both quite different from that game in May.”
Over the last couple of weeks, the Whiskey Jacks have been hard at work during their practices as they plan out their strategy for Saturday’s match.
“We’ve been focusing a lot on some of the technical things that we wanted to improve upon before this match,” Murphy said.
“The way the Condors move the ball on offence is a lot different than how the Highlanders attack, as they tend to strike down the middle. We’ve been doing a lot of work on defence to get ready for what they bring, along with a few surprises we have up our sleeves on offence.”
Saturday’s championship affair will be the third of the day in the provincial capital as a trio of Saskatchewan rugby champions will be crowned.
“I think that’s something that will play into our favour a little bit,” Elsbury said.
“It would have been a bit of stretch for us to go down in the morning and play right away. Instead, we can get to Regina, get our pre-game routines in and then play in front of a sizable crowd.”
