The letter V — representing varsity and victory — could prove instructive in the 2016 Canadian Direct Insurance B.C. Premier Rugby League season.

article continues below

Both the University of Victoria Vikes and UBC Thunderbirds rolled undefeated through their respective Island and Lower Mainland leagues during the fall.

Perhaps it was only fitting the two favourites kicked off the 2016 B.C. Premiership campaign in Vancouver, with the defending-champion Thunderbirds prevailing 37-30 in a rematch of the 2015 Rounsefell Cup B.C. championship game. Saturday’s scorefest of a game also stood as the annual Wightman Cup Boot competition between UVic and UBC.

The rest of the B.C. Premier League openers are on Jan. 30.

The two varsity sides had to start early because both UVic and UBC will be away touring next month. The Vikes will head Down Under in February to play Merewether of Newcastle, New South Wales, before playing Eastern Suburbs in Sydney.

That isn’t the only feature of what will be a bit of a stitched-together 2016 B.C. Premier season. The nine-team B.C. Premiership produces the preponderance of players for Canada’s national team. That usually wasn’t a factor in the winter and spring B.C. Premiership window, a time of the year when Test matches were few.

But now a new international competition, the Americas Championship, is being inaugurated by World Rugby (formerly the International Rugby Board,) with Canada to play Tests against Uruguay on Feb. 6 and Brazil on Feb. 20, both at Westhills Stadium in Langford. Canada will play away Tests in Houston against the U.S. Eagles on Feb. 13, in Argentina on Feb. 28 and in Chile on March 6.

“The Canadian players chosen will all be from the domestic clubs, drawing especially from the B.C. Premiership sides,” said UVic coach Doug Tate, who will have eight players not going on the Australia tour because of national team senior and U-20 opportunities. “So this year’s B.C. Premier season will come down to which clubs have the most depth.”

Losing players to national team commitments is nothing new for the Vikes, who have had several players earn caps for Canada right on up to the World Cup.

“It’s fantastic to see these guys play at the next level,” Tate said.

If depth will be crucial this year, because of attrition to the national team for the new Americas Championship, the Vikes again look to have plenty of it.

Tate runs strong development teams at the Norsemen and Jutes levels, and operates the Vikes very much on a “who’s next” approach when his players leave for international assignments.

That should leave UVic in good stead by the time the 2016 B.C. Premier Rounsefell Cup final rolls around on April 30. If an Island team qualifies, this year’s championship game will be hosted on this side of the strait.

Fellow Island clubs Castaway Wanderers and James Bay are also eyeing that championship fixture as one they plan on playing in at home this spring — Burnaby Lake, Capilano, Rowers, Seattle, and UBCOB Ravens are the other Premier sides for 2016 — but don’t be surprised if it’s another all-varsity final between the Vikes and Thunderbirds.

“UBC is a well-balanced, all-round team with lots of speed,” Tate said.

cdheensaw@timescolonist.com