Written By Brian Lockhart

The Centre Dufferin District High School Royals girls' varsity rugby team are 2-0 after their first games of the 2026 season.

They opened the season with a 49-7 win over Erin District High School on Centre Dufferin home field on Monday, April 20

In their second game of the year, they hosted the Bishop Macdonell Catholic High School Celtics from Guelph on Thursday, April 23. Game two of the season also took place at the Centre Dufferin field.

The Royals were highly charged when they took the field and took a 26-0 lead in the first half.

They returned for the second half and kept up the pressure with a coordinated style of attack.

The final score was 45-0 in favour of the Centre Dufferin team.

On defence, the Royals worked well at keeping the Celtics pinned down and struggling to make gains on the field.

“The team played so well together today,” summed up Royals 8-man Piper Coyle after the game. “We communicated with each other and just played our game. We controlled the game from the beginning. The confidence level on the team is very high, especially after winning our first game. Especially with the junior players all being able to touch the field as well, with some playing their first game ever, I think we're going to have a very good season.”

Teammate Ashley Anderson said the team played its best game of the season.

“We played even better than the last game,” Ashley said. “On offence, we called for the ball a lot – run forward, run straight, run hard. Defensively, we were protecting the side and filled any holes in the line. We didn't give them any opportunities.”

The Royals are well coached, and that coaching showed on the field as the girls executed their attack and formed a good plan to stop the opposition.

The Royals are in second place in the District 4 standings, with two wins.

John F. Ross also has two wins but maintains first place in the standings based on the number of points scored.

The Royals will play one road game against Centennial Collegiate Vocational Institute on May 5.

They will return to their home field at Centre Dufferin on Tuesday, May 5, when they will host Guelph Collegiate.

Game time is 2:30 p.m.