It was with a heavy heart British import Karim Lynch returned home after a season to remember with St. Albert's premier men's rugby team.
After a long winter, the rookie of the year for the 2009 Alberta Cup pennant winners and provincial finalists is thrilled to be back for another summer with the championship contenders.
"I couldn't wait to come here again. I did miss it massively," said the pride of Bournemouth, a coastal resort town in the county of Dorset. "It's just a fantastic club here. The atmosphere is great. Everyone is really close. The boys are brilliant. The rugby is fantastic. The grounds are brilliant as well. They're a joy to play on. I just love it."
Lynch was toiling for the Havant Rugby Football Club when former St. Albert player Harry Heasman pitched the Canadian brand of rugby to his Havant teammate. Heasman also brokered a deal to bring standoff Simon Gregory over this season from Portsmouth.
"Last year was such a big culture difference. Everything was just a really big surprise," said Lynch, who has taken Gregory under his wing since arriving in St. Albert. "To come back this time and sort of half-know what's going on is massive. Before, I didn't know what was going on, so it was good to know where I would be and what I was going to do. Knowing everyone around as well made it a bit easier to do things."
Lynch was a valuable addition to last year's star-studded backfield as the firsts rattled of 13 straight wins before losing the provincial final in heartbreaking fashion, 24-22 to the Calgary Hornets.
"I was really looking forward to seeing everyone again but more than anything I wanted to play rugby here again," said the skilled ball handler with impressive speed and a sneaky boot. "Before I came back we lost a game [34-12 to the Clan in week two at home] so hopefully now we'll go on to have an unbeaten season and we'll win the bloody final, which is important considering what happen last year."
Back with a bang
The 21-year-old literally stepped off the plane and into the starting line-up against the visiting Calgary Saints on June 5, less than a week after helping Dorset & Wilts beat Leicestershire 36-26 for the Rugby Football Union (RFU) County Championship Shield at historic Twickenham. The sleep-deprived outside-centre showcased his passing prowess with a couple of flashy assists for tries in the 56-22 drubbing that was played with uncontested scrums.
The next week Lynch was one of St. Albert's better players in a hard-fought 21-12 road win over the Calgary Canucks. His strong kicking leg bailed the firsts out of a number of sticky jams deep in their end.
"I should be fit coming off the season I just had but that first game I was really, really hurting. I was really jet lagged. I felt so bad," he said. "The Canucks game I still struggled but I got through it. I was happy with it. I guess now I'm getting back into it. I've just got to keep working at it and get my fitness back."
With Lynch back on board, the firsts improved to 3-1 as they strive towards their third provincial final in as many years in premier.
"We're obviously missing some key players from last year in David Owen, Ash [Ashley Hanson] and Byron [Elliott, the team MVP with 22 tries]. Those are three killer players but we've still got a very strong team again and we're young as well. We just need to work on our training. If we stick to our game plan we'll be able to beat teams heavily because we've still got some lethal players."
Back home Lynch played fullback with Bournemouth at the club level and Dorset & Wilts in the county shield playoffs. The victory over Leicestershire with Lynch in the starting 15 is hailed as the greatest triumph in the history of Dorset & Wilts since it was awarded full county status by the RFU in 1949.
"It's like the Edmonton Gold, I guess. All the clubs play for their county so to win it like we did was a very good crack," said the construction management student at the University of Southhampton.
Last Saturday the Gold beat its Calgary equivalent with Lynch at outside-centre and a boatload of St. Albert players carrying the lead for the Edmonton Rugby Union's all-star team. Gregory was named MVP for his performance at standoff.
"It's good for our club to have so many players like that on the Gold," Lynch said. "I played with some guys I didn't know but they were good people. The team worked together pretty good. Overall it was a good result."
After the break in league play, the firsts are back on the pitch today against the Red Deer Titans (3-3). Kickoff is 3 p.m. at the St. Albert Rugby Football Club. Last year the firsts whipped the Titans 59-0 in Red Deer's home opener. In the playoffs, the eighth-place Titans were scheduled to play the firsts in St. Albert but were unable to field a competitive team and defaulted the match. Not only did it cost St. Albert its only home match of the playoffs, the club also lost a substantial amount of game day revenue.
"Our home games are always wicked and I'm quite confident going into this one," Lynch said. "Obviously you take every game seriously and approach it with a good game plan otherwise you could get punished but we should win against Red Deer at home."
