The Dauphin Clippers rugby teams opened the season last week.

The girls opened their season with a pair of lopsided wins, beating the Swan Valley Tigers, 94-0, Apr. 30, in Swan River, before beating the Vincent Massey Vikings, 95-0, Friday in Brandon.

The boys lost to their season opener, 34-14, to the Crocus Plains Plainsmen. Friday’s game against the Vikings was postponed and rescheduled to May 15 in Brandon.

Raylyn Koshowski led the way against Swan Valley with three tries. Paitin Bougouin and Megan Thompson had two tries each, while Ruth Evan, Mai Maguet, Bree Walker, Alma Schlapfer, Scarlet Ruiz, Felicity Sahulka, Desiree Flower, Ashley Korney and Mila Heschuk added singles.

Thompson added five converts and Walker had two.

Scoring for Dauphin on Friday were Walker and Schlapfer with three tries each and Evans, Tanya Devos, Kiersten Vandekerkhove, Thompson, Breanna Gryba, Sahulka, Ruiz, Ruth Dandeneau and Hailey Garlinsky, all with singles.

Thompson recorded seven converts and Walker had two.

After the depth lost from last year’s roster, Clippers coach Shawn Sarkonak knew they would have an athletic squad this year.

“But would be a little more inexperienced compared to last year. But they’ve come out of the gate running, that’s for sure. It’s been amazing to watch,” he said.

The season opener against Swan Valley, Sarkonak said, was the team’s most complete game, even going back to last season, when they went 9-0.

“It was just run, catch, pass. Just running hard lines, committing defenders and passing. It was a treat to watch, really. It was not just one or two people controlling the game. It was a complete team game,” he said.

And that, he added, is what coaches look for.

“When we talk to the girls, we tell them that if you’re wanting to go higher in rugby, those high performance coaches, university coaches, they don’t look to see who does the scoring. They watch what leads up to it. What created that opportunity. They look for the skill set,” Sarkonak said. “They know that there’s finishers out there and there’s people that can go out there and score. But they really want to see the skill set. And that’s what it seems to be happening right now in these first two games.”

Owen Tyschinski and Josh Yakielashek had the Dauphin boy’s tries and Colton Miner had two converts.

Clippers coach Aaron Miner felt the Clippers went into the game a little overconfident after the John Keogh Rugby Festival, Apr. 20. in Brandon.

“The boys felt they had it won before the game even started. And we were surprised by what they brought. They obviously didn’t show all their cards at the John Keogh,” he said. “We heard some of their bigger, stronger players were at a football camp that weekend. So we weren’t totally surprised. But we were definitely surprised when they showed up with six boys in their pack that definitely outsized our pack.”

Miner feels his team needs to bulk up in the front end of the pack.

“Not to make any excuses. They played a great game and they were definitely the better team on that day. But we were missing a few or our key players. Once we get our key players back in the lineup for Monday’s rematch against Crocus, I think we’ll be okay. I think it will be a pretty even game,” he said.

Both Clippers squads hosted Crocus Plains last night in the one and only home game of the regular season.

The girls won their game, 52-0, while the boys picked up their first win of the season, beating the Plainsmen, 19-14.

Both teams will be in Souris, next Monday, to face the Sabres.