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The Shawnigan Lake Stags are benefactors of great expectations or a team that has to battle massive pressure every time out. Like so many other things, it all depends on how you frame it.

Shawnigan Lake coach Tim Murdy and his charges obviously prefer the former. They are one of the few remaining dynasties in B.C. school sports, a program that’s been to nine straight triple-A boys rugby championships and won seven of those, including the past two.

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They’re the No. 1-ranked squad in the province again this season and seemingly didn’t do a single thing to hamper that on Saturday, when the beat their arch-nemesis, the second-ranked St. George’s Saints, 36-0.

“The players do feel a little bit of pressure, but it comes with the territory,” said Murdy, whose in his 11th year at the co-ed private boarding school, which is located about a 45-minute drive north from Victoria.

“I try to get the kids to understand that the season is about them and their journey. I try to get them to understand that last year’s team and the teams before them are different teams. This year is about them and how they embrace their challenges.