It’s home at last for the James Bay Athletic Association as the historic club will host Burnaby Lake in the Rounsefell Cup provincial men’s rugby championship game.
The second-place Bays upended third-place Capilano 34-27 in overtime of the CDI Premier League semifinal at McDonald Park on Saturday.
First place Burnaby Lake dented the hopes of an all-Island final beating the fourth-seed Castaway Wanderers 26-10 in the other semifinal.
The Bays have won multiple Rounsefell cups but the last time it was competed for in Victoria it was won by the UVic Vikes.
Because the Bays have reached the final, the Rounsefell Cup premier men’s B.C. championship will be played at UVic’s Wallace Field on Saturday, May 11. The Rounsefell Cup location rotates between Vancouver Island and the Mainland but will only happen here if an Island team qualifies, which it has.
In other men’s rugby the Velox Valhallians hosted a triple header on Saturday and fell short in all three.
It ends the Valhallians’ campaign for promotion to the CDI Premier league as they fell 19-15 to Abbotsford in the Okanagan Spring Brewery League semi-finals.
Abbotsford edged Velox’s Academy side 46-29 in the Okanagan Brewery League Div. 1 semifinals.
Earlier in the day the Brit Lions scored heavily in a 48-17 win over the Valhallians Div. 3 side, also a provincial semifinal.
The UVic Norsemen advance to the Ceili’s Div. 1 provincial final with a 23-12 win over Meraloma.
It all sets the stage for a day of rugby finals at UVic on May 11 with Victoria clubs in both premier finals as the Velox Valkyries will face Burnaby Lake in the Women’s Adidas Premiership Harris Cup.