1977 Tigers in the Manitoba Rugby Hall of Fame
Team was inducted on Oct. 13
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This article was published 31/10/2017 (2927 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Forty years later, the 1977 St. John’s High School rugby team has been recognized for its outstanding achievements.
On Oct. 13, 20 of the team’s 29 players and coaches gathered in Winnipeg to celebrate its official induction to the Manitoba Rugby Hall of Fame at The Gates on Roblin.
In March 1977, the team was the first Manitoba squad to come back from the U.K. with a winning record after a five-game tour.
The team also went undefeated at a Chicago high school rugby tournament, crushed the Benilde-St. Margaret’s College team from St. Paul’s, Minn., and won the Manitoba high school rugby championship, defeating Kelvin in the final.
The Tigers finished the season with a record of 14 wins and two losses, scoring 514 points while allowing just 66.
Andrew Jackson, a player who was also inducted into the hall of fame on the same day, attributed the team’s success to the players’ friendship.
Their coaches, Peter Press and Raymond Skett, also had an extensive knowledge of the game and always spent time with the students making sure they were fit to play.
“We came from all different parts of the North End, all different backgrounds and all just wanted as a common goal to try to be good at a game that was fun to us,” Jackson said.
Rick Romsa, captain of the 1977 team who later coached the St. John’s rugby team, said most students “spent countless hours in Skett’s guidance office just going over rugby stuff.
“We were successful because we were that much more knowledgeable about the game than some of the English teams,” he said.
The trip to England is a remarkable memory for most of the players. Romsa said the bond they developed during the 17 days away is carried through today. After that trip, St. John’s went on to provide 15 players to the Manitoba U20 Provincial team, eight players to the Manitoba senior men’s Provincial team and four to the Canadian U20 All-Stars.
“It’s the feeling of (an) us-against-the-world sort of attitude. It didn’t matter who it was, you always knew that 26 people had your back,” Romsa added.
“It was that trip that did a lot for most of us to advance in the future.”
In 1977, Romsa and Jackson were two of four players selected to the Canadian U20 All Star team. In 2015, Romsa was inducted as a builder to the Manitoba Rugby Hall of Fame but said the team’s induction means even more to him.
“We wouldn’t have gone anywhere without all of us being together. You’re as good as your weakest link, and when we went on the field we knew that there was no weakest link,” he said.
“We were always playing for each other. We always had each other’s back.”
Before the dinner, 11 members of the 1977 team visited St. John’s to speak to the 2017-2018 team coached by Cole Hunt. The message they wanted to send the students was that together anything is possible.
“Hopefully the young kids now can see that a lot is possible. The game still has its challenge because it has to beat hockey, basketball, football,” Jackson said.
“Working together as a team, we were able to achieve great things. It doesn’t matter where you are or where you came from, it’s possible.”
1977 St. John’s High School Rugby Team