Burnaby Lake Rugby Club moved into sole possession of first place in the Canadian Direct Insurance premier men's league on Saturday.
The resounding 60-20 victory over third-place Capilano broke a three-way logjam atop the eight-team ladder, giving Burnaby Lake an overall 9-3 record and a four-point lead over previous frontrunner James Bay, which was upset 39-12 at home by 3-7-2 UBC Old Boys last week.
The victory was Burnaby Lake's fifth consecutive win by more than 20 points, which includes one-sided victories over the all of league's top clubs in the past three weeks.
The phoenix-like rise of the Central Valley club in recent seasons is largely attributed to the team-first philosophy of head coach Kris de Scossa.
"What has come about is we're in the third year of a five-year program," said de Scossa, who turned around a program that did not win a single fixture in his first season as head coach.
Perhaps the most satisfying aspect of Burnaby Lake's current success is that approximately 90 per cent of the players who experienced those down years are still actively playinng, said de Scossa.
"Everyone catches up. We came in with a modern rugby philosophy. . we're building a performance culture," he said. "You have to have a working environment that is open and trusting and an executive that is open minded to develop the work ethic and culture of success."
Prior to coming to Burnaby Lake, De Scossa, who has coached at the national and professional levels in Europe and North America, helped the Calgary Irish to an Alberta title and the Vancouver Meraloma club to a provincial championship.
De Scossa maintains he possesses no magic spells that can turn around sagging problems, just hard work and working from within a club.
"When (former Canadian international) Mike James brought me to Burnaby Lake, I could see they wanted the success," he said.
Now, de Scossa enjoys training sessions where upwards of nearly 100 players regularly attend.
"Players are in the schools and in the community, too," he added.
Last weekend, the club hosted a mini-rugby jamboree to help bring the game to the next generation of rugby union enthusiasts.
Despite posting Burnaby Lake's eighth consecutive win this season, de Scossa is taking nothing for granted.
"We've had some success," he modestly stated. "But we have to take each game at a time. Our final game is every game."
Last weekend, two tries apiece by Evan Thomas and Matt Alexander helped Burnaby Lake to a 34-8 halftime lead over Capilano.
League scoring leader James Reekie currently tops the premier ladder with 113 total points, including four tries from his standoff half position.
Back row forward Admir Cejvanovic is fourth overall with 54 total points, including eight tries.
Burnaby Lake is away to Castaway Wanderers this weekend.
In first division play, Burnaby Lake won its ninth in a row and moved into a second-place tie with Capilano following an 18-5 win over the North Shore club.
Burnaby currently sports a Div. 1 league record of 10-2 and trails first-place University of Victoria by four points.
The Burnaby Lake women also won easily last weekend, scoring a 5122 victory over UVic to improve its spring record to 3-1.
This weekend, the women's team take on Bayside at South Surrey Athletic Park on Saturday. Kickoff is at 11: 30 a.m.
