Journal Staff
Two members of the Sarnia Saints Rugby Football Club have been named to Ontario’s U16 team and will tour with the squad in England this fall.
Gavin Baillie and Matt Gouveia trained throughout the summer with an Ontario West team that competed in August at the Eastern Canadian Championships in Kingston, Ont.
Ontario West played extremely well and the boys captured a silver medal.
Coaches and staff from Rugby Ontario were there to evaluate the players and named 26 to a full provincial side. Baillie and Gouveia made the cut.
"I had an amazing experience at the Eastern Championships. Most of the games were very competitive and I love that,” Gouveia said.
“It was very physical, and playing that many games within a week was a real challenge.”
Baillie said he’s excited about the upcoming tour.
"My parents have pushed me all summer to work toward this and take as much as I could from the program to get better, and that definitely paid off for me,” he said.
The pair will now train with the Ontario team as well as the local Sarnia Saints team in the fall 7's series program.
Ontario’s U16 Rugby Team is scheduled to tour England Nov. 8-17.