The BLRC tend to travel heavy wherever we go and the support on this day was no different. The club executive would like to thank the 150 or so BLRC members and supporters that came to Victoria to be heard that day and would like to make special note of the members of the Kamloops Raiders Rugby Club that made the extra long trip on the BLRC Fan Bus!! Your support means SO MUCH to the players on the field.

All 3 teams met for breakfast at the hotel on Saturday morning before breaking into their teams for some pre game logistical meetings and to make their way to Wallace Field. The BLRC Women would be up first and the Men’s teams had adjusted their pre game schedule to make it to the field early to cheer on the ladies!

Women’s Premier Final: BLRC 17, Velox 13

BLRC and Velox have contested for the BC Championship for the last 3 years. In 2011, BLRC pulled out a close victory and last year saw Velox do the same! The BLRC girls were expecting a battle and Velox delivered. The 1sthalf was all Blue + White as the pack moved the ball downfield and Captain Julia Sugawara punished Velox penalties with her foot. An unconverted Abby “South Stands” Goodwin try and 3 penalty kicks for Julia combined with one for the Velox kicker had the half time score at BLRC 14 –Velox 3 .

But, the game was a tale of two halves. In the 2nd half, just about everything Velox tried worked, and just about everything the BLRC tried failed. Velox were able to close the gap with 2 unconverted tries both from long sustained phases, and the game seemed to be unravelling for the BLRC but a rare 2nd half Velox penalty allowed Sugawara to add 3 more points and the game would end 17 to 13 in favour of the BLRC. BIG Congrats to the BLRC Ladies, the 2013 Gordon Harris Memorial Cup Champions!

Men’s Premier Final: BLRC 10, JBAA 18

As the Victoria Time Columnist called it, this match was like the Mariners vs the Yankees for the World Series. James Bay, a regular at BC Rugby’s big dance and the BLRC not having made the Provincial finals in such a long time that few could agree on the year.

The BLRC approached the match confident that if they played “their game” a victory was certainly in their grasp. James Bay must have heard and set up a game plan that knocked the Blue + Whites off of their game all day. The veteran leadership of players like J + M Williams, Moonlight, Yoon, Dalziel and Miles combined with the explosive running of White and Wilson-Ross was too much for the BLRC to overcome and the boys tasted defeat. The James Bay forwards contested every lineout and challenged every ruck which is what you need to do in a Championship game. The JBAA backs kept the ball in the BLRC end for about 75% of the game with their tactical kicking. It’s hard to score when you’re inside your own 22!! The BLRC showed some flashes of excitement on the rare occasion that they found themselves in a scoring position and while it was fitting that the BLRC’s season MVP Joe Dolesau accounted for all 10 BLRC points, it was also just as fitting that a De Goede (Jim) dove over the try line for James Bay to put the nail in the coffin with about 5 minutes left to play.

Congrats to James Bay, the well deserved, 2013 Rounsefell Cup Champions!

A big thank you to the Velox Rugby Club who opened the doors of their clubhouse to the BLRC players and many of our supporters looking for a place to enjoy a few post game refreshments.

*

Game Schedule at Wallace Field – Uvic
Women’s Prem Final - 12.00 pm
Men’s 1st Div Final - 2.00 pm
Men’s Prem Final - 4.00 pm

A bus has been reserved for Saturday morning to pick up walk on supporters at Swartz Bay from the 9.00am Ferry from Tsawassen. This will be at 10.35 am.

The bus will transfer to Wallace Field – Uvic approx arrival 11.30am ( there will be a stop to pick up refreshments).At the end of the games the bus will pick up at Wallace field at 7.30pm to transfer to Swartz bay to enable catching the9.00pm Ferry back to Vancouver.

The cost for this is $10.00 per head & Katie Larson has kindly agreed to be the Bus Captain. If you would like to reserve a place please email Katie atlarson.katie@ymail.com –

Numbers are limited & places are 1st come, 1st served & those who pay in advance get priority.

Looking forward to a great day out with everyone sporting their Blue & White.

BLRC

Many Teams – One CLUB

BURNABY -  The fourth annual BLRC Lighthouse Sevens Tournament takes place on the shores of Burnaby Lake on Saturday July 27th, 2013. As four-time defending BC Rugby Sevens Series champions in both the Elite Men’s and Women’s Divisions, BLRC is again participating in the 2013 BC Rugby Sevens series to not only defend their crown, but to also help enhance the development of Sevens Rugby in the Province.

BLRC will again hope to host 12 Elite Men’s teams, 12 Elite Social teams and eight elite Women’s teams. We will also be looking at hosting at least eight Under-18 Junior Boys teams as part of our effort to develop the sport with the kids. There will be a Beer Garden running to quench your thirst, BBQ and entertainment. Please visit the sevens page on BLRC’s website at www.burnabylakerugby.com for updates as we get closer to the big day. Regular updates will be posted to keep you informed, not only of results and those we are entering, but also clubs and teams that will be entering our tournament.

Tournament name: BLRC Lighthouse Sevens Festival
Hosting club: Burnaby Lake Rugby Club (www.burnabylakerugby.com)
Tournament dates: July 27th, 2013
Location: BLRC FIELDS 3760 SPERLING AVE. BURNABY, V5B 4X5
Tournament contacts: ROKO KAPAIWAI rkapaiwai@gmail.com
Registration fees: ELITE MEN:$250, ELITE WOMEN: $250, SOCIAL MEN:$100
Registration Deadline: July 20th, 2013
Tournament website: www.burnabylakerugby.com
Divisions: ELITE MEN & WOMEN, SOCIAL MEN, YOUTH

BLRC 2nd Div Women 10, Ridge Meadows Bruins 17

The playoff action started early in Maple Ridge where the 2nd Div women took on the always tough Ridge Meadows Bruins. When the 2 teams met in the regular season, the BLRC 2nds had been taught a lesson as the Bruins rolled to a 20 point victory. Saturdays contest was a much tighter affair, and although the girls lost 17-10 (BLRC tries from Lauren Tagg + Abigail Tacal) there was much to be excited about. Ideally you want to win your last game of the season, but the teams heads were held high; none more than head coach Ian Trevor whose positivity + enthusiasm for his team + Women’s Rugby can’t be overstated. The average age of the 2nds this year was 17 years old, with most girls doing double duty with their Secondary Schools. The emergence this year of young leaders like Brandon Mattin, Malak Dalati and Anh Tran (just to name a few)combined with the surprising breakout performances of Ruby Moore-Kalia + Breanne Watson bodes well for Women’s rugby in Burnaby and particularly the BLRC Women’s program! Thanks to Coach Ian Trevor + manager Brett Taylor for their dedication this year.

BLRC 3 Blue’s 10, Vancouver Rowing Club 29

3rd division rugby at its best! Both teams fielding rosters with players born in the 60’s/70’s and the late 90’s! The Rowers balance of age to youth was the better mixture on this day as they would prevail after being down 10 to 0 early in the 1st half. Mark Lynch would score the BLRC’s 1st try after a blocked kick by Pete Dove had the ball bouncing into the end zone. Wayne Lawson would convert and add a penalty minutes later. Unfortunately the wheels fell off the BLRC attack after that, and while there was some promising play from youngsters Keegan Fletcher, Trent Shelley and Wayne Lawson… the experience + treachery of the Rower shone through. Somehow Pat O’Gorman was still the difference maker (makes me embarrassed for hanging up the cleats before I’m 50!) as his appearance for the VRC changed the dynamic of this game entirely. To the Rowers we wish you good luck for the rest of the playoffs. Thanks 3B’s for a great season!

BLRC 3 White’s 12, Brit Lions 25

The game got off on the wrong foot for the BLRC as standout center + asian heart throb, Dean Villares, was lost to a bad ankle injury. He was released from the hospital on Saturday night and is in for a long recovery. The BLRC got off to a SLOOOOW start with the Brit’s jumping ahead to an 18 point lead. In the 2nd half, the BLRC would come back on Rick Flello + Tyler Rumley tries. Colin Thomson was good on one conversion and the score was a close 18 to 12. With time running out the BLRC were surging in opposition end but an errant pass was picked off by an astute Brit Lion and run all the way back for the nail in the coffin. Thanks to the Brit Lions for a great game and good luck in the playoffs!

BLRC Premier Women 13, United RFC 5

Most BLRC vs United games are high energy and filled with emotion and big hits (not often seen in women’s rugby), but Saturday’s match was another level of intensity. The BLRC were led all day by their powerful forward pack who made life tough for their opposition in the scrums + rucks. Laura Harmse, Katie Grudzinski, Deb Capps, Kim Donaldson, Hailey Glendenning, Abby Goodwin, Carolyn MacEwen and Iona Schamberger were outstanding up front. The backs were led by Captain Julia Sugawara with Maria Gallo, Mel Miyazaki, Maggie Ritchie, Gen Gratton, Devon Luca, Angel Santos and Becky Querido pushing the pace all game and never giving an inch! The BLRC try scorer was 2nd row Abby Goodwin. Julia Sugawara added a convert and 2 three pointers to seal the victory and their 3rd straight trip to the BC finals.

After the games were finished, the club got dressed up and retired to the BLRC Mohawk Room for our 2012/2013 Awards Banquet. The evening was MC’d, once again, by the handsome BLRC president (me) and attended by over 100 club members. We would like to thank the VRU President Peter Muirhead for attending as well as BLRC + BC Rugby legend Leah James who attended on behalf of BC Rugby (along with her husband Mike). Once again 1st Div coach Dave Murphy had the best speech!

The awards winners were:

Grinder (most aggressive off-field performance) – Andy Drummond

Men’s U-19 Forward of the Year – Trent Shelley

Men’s U-19 Back of the year – Wayne Lawson

Men’s 7’s MVP – Rain De Guzman

Women’s 7’s MVP – Desiree Noger

Men’s Program Rookie of the Year – Titus Le

Women’s Program Rookie of the Year – Aleisha Holmes

Women’s 2nd Division Forward of the Year – Jessica Tortora

Women’s 2nd Division Back of the Year – Anh Tran

Men’s 3rd Division Forward of the Year – Marvin Omaque

Men’s 3rd Division Back of the Year – Colin Thomson

Men’s 1st Division Forward of the Year – Andy Drummond

Men’s 1st Division Back of the Year – Barry Bonell

Women’s Premier Division Forward of the Year – Iona Schamberger

Women’s Premier Division Back of the Year – Devon Luca

Men’s Premier Division Forward of the Year – Admir Cejvanovic

Men’s Premier Division Back of the Year – Joe Dolesau

Larry Young Award (Club Person of the year as voted on by the players) – Preston Petrovich

Rob Forsberg Award (Club Person of the year as voted on by the Executive Comm.) – Rain De Guzman

www.burnabylakerugby.com

Many Teams~One Club

10am saw the 1st of two Women’s games against cross-town rivals SFU. The match was fairly one sided with the Blue + White running in 13 tries. BLRC standouts “Mean” Jean Lehtinen, Taylor Kapaiwai, (skipper) Brandon Mattin and Anh Tran each ran in 2 tries. Jessica Tortoora, Lauren Tagg, Angel Santos and BLRC newbie’s Breanne Watson and Ruby Moore-Kalia each added singles. Ruby also added a conversion while Kyra Groll added two. Much credit to the SFU girls who gave 100% until the end, and to referee Marcus Treacy for being handsome in his Bangkok 10’s jersey!

Premier Women – BLRC 53, SFU 0

The SFU Women always bring a sideline, and with their Men’s match being played at the Lake at 1pm combined with only 2 BLRC Men’s games scheduled that day, the sidelines (and bar) were crowded early. Many expected a very close game as these squads are very familiar with each other with the BLRC having tangled with the likes of Lalonde, Banford, Laczny and Firman, numerous times in the past few years.

Julia Sugawara’s squad would score early + often as they ran in 9 tries while their blanket defense would keep SFU off the scoreboard. Katie Grudzinski touched down 3 times (she was the Women’s “player to watch” in the game day program… and I’m never wrong) while Genevieve Gratton and Emily Young each scored 2 tries. Carolyn McEwen and Dr. Maria Gallo would also find their way onto the score sheet with tries. Julia Sugawara would add 4 conversions.

3rd div Men – BLRC Blues 18, Abbotsford 21

The BLRC 3-Blue team took on Abbotsford with 1st place on the line. The BLRC were quick out of the gates and took the lead when Colin Thomson converted a 3 pointer after five min of pressure rugby.

Failure to deal with the resulting kick off left the Blue & White with a 10 minute defensive stand, which was well led by Aaron “Blue” Lambert & Liem “Panda” Jung. The BLRC wall was breached after great patience by Abby, mixing attacks through theforwards & backs. Veteran prop Steve Preston was credited with the try; 7-3 Abby. The next 15 min belonged to the Abby 10-12 partnership with inside centre “Bones”, exploiting a couple of gaps in the Burnaby backfield & tallying twice under the posts. This left Burnaby with a big hill to climb, down 21-3 with 5 min to the half. From the kick off the ball was won back & a drive by Wong & Harkins resulted in the ever reliable Dan Schinbein being given 20 yards of space to take it to the house, 21-8 at the ½ & all to play for with the winds at Burnaby’s back.

The 2nd half was dominated by BLRC, and Abby were reeled in ever closer through a 3 pointer from Thomson & a converted try. With the score at 21-18, Burnaby was poised to complete the comeback. Unfortunately at least 3 good quality chances went begging and led to Abby grabbing the win for 1st place in the 3B standings.

Credit to Abbotsford whose defense was well organized & scrappy! Thanks to referee Al Deglan & Abbotsford RFC for the hosting post game. We wish them good luck in the playoffs.

Premier Men – BLRC 76, Bayside 5

The BLRC Premier Men closed out the regular season on a high note defeating Bayside RFC by a pretty wide margin. The White Rock club is rebuilding, and while they have had no issues competing in most games this year, they have found W’s elusive. It wasn’t that long ago that the BLRC were in a similar position. Our game sheets full of committed young local players like Anthony Luca, Andrew Lackner, Doug Breadon, Aaron Goddard, Scott Plummer, Steve Batie, Brad McHugh, Admir Cejvanovic and Rain De Guzman who you could see had the potential for Premier Rugby, but might not have been ready for prime time just yet. Lesser players would have tired of the beatings + hung up the cleats or left for greener pastures, but these men stayed the course as the BLRC was rebuilt around them. Those young players are now 24-28 year olds with 5/6 years of Premier Rugby experience already in their back pockets and the BLRC are reaping the benefits of it. The Premier team has certainly had key additions during the years (Mantle, Ryan, MacKay, Laudisio, Govorchin, McHollister, Thomas, McQueen, Dolesau, Gotegote, Ryan) and we have been fortunate enough to be joined by Piffero, Reekie and Alexander this year, but that core group of guys continue to be why players from across the country and the world make the BLRC their permanent home.

I saw many similarities in the young Bayside squad that travelled to Burnaby on Saturday. The bags piled against the wall in the clubhouse read “Semihamoo SS”, “Earl Marriott SS” or were well weathered Bayside bags. A talented core of young South Surrey locals like Kalar, Timmler, Thorpe(s), Dixon and of course, their star scrum half Cody Rockson, combined with leadership from veterans like Pat Bickerton + Mike Pajic could lead the Sharks back to the top of the Premier League in a few short years. It won’t be an easy road, but with commitment it can happen. The BLRC wish you the best of luck next year and in the coming years.

BLRC try scorers: Thomas, Piffero, Alexander, Ackerman, Bonnell, Cejvanovic, MacKay, Dolesau, McQueen, Mantle, Govorchin, Murphy – Conversions: Ryan (8) Bayside try scorer: Not sure, but Pajic had something to do with it!

www.burnabylakerugby.com Many Teams~One Club

*3rd Div Blues 55- vs Richmond 3*

The day started well for the blue & white as the 3rd div Blue team put in a strong performance against Richmond.

Ex BLRC juniors Brian Murphy & Tyrell Rothery ran the show from scrum half & fly half respectively & the forwards led by ex BLRC juniors John Decaire & Kelly Hirakida produced good ball for the backs to show their stuff.

Strong games were also had by Liem “Panda” Jung who converted his own try & Thomas Menzies.

This win sees the Blue team atop of the 3rd div B pool with one week until playoffs begin & in a good position to get a home game in the 1st round

*3rd Div White 3 – Vs Kelowna 45*

This was always going to be a tough game, especially away, as Kelowna have a strong program with many gifted athletes.

Credit to the 16 players who represented Burnaby Lake on Saturday against our friends from Kelowna, many of whom have played for BLRC while living in Vancouver.

The scoreline was not truly reflective of the possession or territory that both teams enjoyed, the difference was that Kelowna were able to take their chances & attack from range particularly through Ricky Schouten who Burnaby had difficulty with all day.

Kelowna had to work for all their scores and ex BLRC fly half Anthony Bird kept a nice flow to the game for the Crows.

This was a real dogged effort by Burnaby & captain Rick Flello led from the front filling in at hooker when his team needed him.

A big thank you to the Kelowna Crows for their excellent hosting & the opportunity to renew old friendships.

*1st Div BLRC 23- CW 8*

The weather at Windsor park was perfect for the 1pm game at Windsor Park as the BLRC took on the defending Ceili’s Cup 1st Div Champions.

Determined to not suffer from “Ferry legs” coach Dave Murphy had his team ready to go from the start & this was a good thing as the 1st 10 mins saw Burnaby on defence as CW led by Nanyak Dala & Jacob Lamb continually asked questions of the Blue & White.

Excellent tackling & a turnover created by Preston Petrovitch & Brad Mchugh allowed Geoff Ryan the opportunity to clear his lines & his cultured boot set up good field position to attack from. This was rewarded with 2 penalties within a 5 minute period that Geoff converted to give Burnaby a 6-0 lead 15 minutes in.

In the next series of play an excellent line break by BLRC full back & welcome addition to the BLRC ginger club Colin Thomson saw him tackled at the line, however Dala who made the tackle was sent to the sin bin for preventing a quick play of the ball. With excellent field position Burnaby drove the ball through the forwards yet somehow turned it over. The CW stand off sensing the opportunity to counter attack threw a miss pass that was picked off by Geoff Ryan & he scampered over under the posts, with the convert it was 13-0 with 20 mins played.

In a testament to the work Dave Murphy has done with this team Burnaby played controlled rugby knowing that having a man advantage for nearly 8 minutes was an opportunity to get more points on the board. Expertly marshalled by Cory Turkington Burnaby moved the ball forward from sideline to sideline waiting for the mismatch to occur. Despite good defence from CW it came when Ryan shifted the play to the blind side & Javier Valle found Colin Thomson hitting the line at pace, Colin beat the 1st defender due to the speed he hit the line at & this momentum took him past the other defenders & over the line for a well worked score, Geoff Ryan again was good with the extras.

With Dala back in the game the CW attack was focused around involving him as often as possible & despite many good attacking positions great defence from the team saw BLRC only give up 3 points for a ½ time score of 20-3.

CW scored from the opening phases of the 2nd half kick off & the possibility of a comeback did appear on, however Burnaby upped their energy & through the forward charges of Alec Douglas, Andy Drummond, Brad Mchugh again established control which allowed Ryan the chance to pin CW in their end. Burnaby tallied a 3 pointer which is where the scoring ended & then in the last 10 minutes being a man down showed excellent defensive capabilities, bending yet not breaking against the CW tide. Mike Harkins was particularly strong during the last 20 & led the defensive effort. This victory secured home field in the play offs for the 1st div & it was good to see the players who came up from 3rd div, Blake Barnert, Colin Thomson, Dean Villares, last week to cover injuries play so well.

*Premier Game – BLRC 16 – CW 23*

The weather that was so right for the 1st div game changed dramatically for the premier game which was played in rain & hail, despite the conditions both teams tried to play open rugby. CW needing a win to keep their playoff hopes alive carried the play for the 1st 10 mins & tested the Blue & White defence, eventually a turnover created by Plummer allowed Reekie the chance to clear his lines & most of the half was played between the 22 areas as plays would break down due to the tough handling conditions the weather presented. This affected both teams as usually sure handed players such as Buckley & Goodland & Cejvanovic & Reekie suffered uncharacteristic knock-ons which prevented any flow to the game.

5 mins before the break Burnaby gave up a penalty that Hearn, who was excellent all day converted, from the kick off Burnaby were able to force a penalty & just before the break Reekie levelled matters for Burnaby.

The team that was able to better adapt to the increasingly sodden conditions & be patient would have the better chance for success in the second stanza. Attacking down the hill CW led by Barkwill & Woolridge created small gaps in the Blue & White wall which saw a penalty awarded that Hearn again converted. The next 5 minutes saw CW again control possession and an excellent break by prop Thornber saw play taken to the Burnaby 5 metre line & the Blue & White defence scrambling, Franklin was 1st to the breakdown & was able to pick up & dive over for the crucial opening try, again Hearn added the extras. 13-3 down & going against the wind & the hill & the baying CW balcony this was gut check time for the league leaders.

As he has done all season Mike “Pikey” Gough calmed his team & reminded them of the need to play controlled patient rugby & for the next 15 minutes that is what happened, this resulted in good things as 2 forays into the CW 22 from Joe Dolesau resulted in penalties that Reekie calmly slotted. More controlled play from the kick off reception & a clever kick through by Reekie that was knocked on by CW gave Burnaby an attacking scrum on the left hand touchline, Cejvanovic controlled it well & picked & went blind & after beating the 1st man fed his back row colleague Doug Breadon who went over for the tally, Reekie with the extras & suddenly Burnaby were up by 3 & the balcony was quiet & CW’s season was on the line. Another solid 5 minutes of possession rugby was needed from Burnaby to keep the ball from CW, unfortunately from the kick off a knock on handed possession back to CW & from the resulting scrum a penalty was awarded that Hearn slotted to level matters. 10 mins to go & all to play for & both teams giving up possession cheaply with unforced errors. From a kick deep into CW territory Mozac Samson found space & set up a ruck 30 metres out from the Burnaby line quick ball & good vision from Buckley who kicked the ball through & touched down his own kick gave CW the lead, Hearn once more with the extras.

Burnaby had 5 minutes to salvage their unbeaten run & despite getting to the CW 22 & good position on 3 occasions they were forced into touch & turned the ball over. Mr Taylor blew his whistle for full time & the game was over.

Congratulations to CW on the win & for taking their chances & adapting to the conditions better than Burnaby.

A big thank you to the referee Kai Taylor, his assistant referees, CW for the hosting after & the many BLRC supporters that made the trip over to support the team.

Next week sees the Blue & White return to the friendly confines of Burnaby Lake for a day of club on club rugby as 3rds, 1st & Prems play the Bayside Sharks, while our 3b’s play out at Abbotsford for 1st place.

We hope to see the sidelines packed as they have been for the last 3 home games.

BLRC – Many Teams – One CLUB

http://www.bcrugby.com/news/2013/04/12/article-board/gio-lam-recognized-through-bc-rugby-volunteer-appreciation-program/#.UWjNALWG3zw

Junior Scholarship Program Write up 2013

Senior Scholarship Program Writeup 2013

Women’s 2nd div: BLRC 17 vs Comox 27

The girls were up early as they had to catch the 6:30am Ferry to make it to Comox in time for kickoff. Crossing the strait always has its challenges, but from all accounts, the trip was a fun one! The team lost a close game to the Kickers 27 to 17. Brandon + Shelby Mattin had big games and tries came from Lauren Bowerman, Ruby Moore-Kalia and Abby Tacal. Kyra Groll was good for one conversion.

Women’s Premier: BLRC 51 vs UVIC 22

The Women would be without Julia Sugawara and Kim Donaldson for this match. Veterans like Laura Harmse and Iona Schamberger would have to step up to lead the team. The first challenge was getting everyone on the 7am ferry…passed with flying colors! This game would mark the 1st time that new BLRC member Abby Goodwin would face her old team and the first time new UVIC player Aly Govorchin would face her old Blue + White squad. The BLRC won handily, but not easily. The fitness of the UVIC ladies kept the BLRC girls on their toes. Solo Blue + White tries came from Taylor “mom must have been good looking” Kapaiwai, Hailey Glendenning, Deb Capps, Gabrielle Hindley, and Becky Querido. Katie Grudzinski and Nancy Radman each scored twice and Gen Gratton added 3 conversions. Next week the Women have a big match against Mainland champs Bayside RFC.

Men’s 3B: BLRC 13 vs Surrey Beavers 23

The 3B’s were on the road in Surrey against a strong team of Beavers. The 3 Blues are led by a handful of veterans in the forwards and a set of fit juniors in the backs. It was a back + forth game with the lead changing hands a few times before Surrey used their depth to grind out the W. BLRC’s lone try came from the dreadlocked Mark Lynch, and the other 8 points came from the foot of Wayne Lawson. The coaches were very pleased by the progress made by many of the younger + U-19 members of the team.

Men’s 3A: BLRC 3 vs Capilano 33

The 3 White’s opened the day at the Lake against a very good Capilano team. The Caps are a club with talent to spare and I believe that their 3rds would defeat many of the Ceili’s Cup 1st div squads. This talent was on display today as the Caps took it to the BLRC from the opening whistle to the closing one. The BLRC weren’t able to build any rhythm as the Caps challenged every breakdown and put relentless pressure on scrum half Casey Evans and fly half Colin Thompson. The BLRC Back row had an impressive tackle count as Flello, Barnert and Menzies were on defense all day. But, you can’t make em all, and when they missed the Caps ran in tries. On a positive note, we would like to welcome back Keegan Fletcher who made an impact in his first game back in the Blue + White.

Men’s 1st Div: BLRC 18 vs Capilano 5

This was an exciting game! The squads were tied for 2nd place going into this game, with Capilano holding the edge after their 8 to 5 victory in October. The BLRC had this match on their radar for weeks knowing that this would go a long way to deciding home field advantage in the playoffs. The 1 st half was a defensive battle with only a Nolan Shelley penalty kick showing on the scoreboard. In the 2nd half the play opened up a bit and VP Angus “Wheels” Fisher took a hard line all the way to the end zone. Colin Thompson converted and then followed up a few minutes later with a penalty kick to make the score 13 to 0. Midway through the 2nd half, Anare Tuidraki atoned for an earlier knock on by reading a Capilano skip pass and taking it all the way to the house for a try. The scoring finished with my MoM, Capilano’s Chris Robinson running in a long try from about the half way point to finish the game. This was the type of game that gets played too rarely in this league and we wish Caps all the best going into the playoffs.

Men’s Premier: BLRC 60 vs Capilano 20

The BLRC faced off against Capilano in October at Klahanie with the Caps coming out on top 21 to 9. The BLRC held a one point lead in the CDI standings entering this game. A victory here combined with an unlikely JBAA loss would push the winning team into 1st place in the Premier League. A great aspect of playing a club like the Caps is their tremendous fan support. Their sideline was full of players + supporters, leading to a great money making day in the BLRC bar. In addition, their supporters “get it”; buying up the game day programs and contributing to the bottle draw fundraiser! Once again, thank you to all the visiting fans and a special thank you to Craig Dalziel!

These 2 teams are similar in many ways and very familiar with each other, having faced off numerous times in the past few years. The front row duos of MacKay + Luca(BLRC) and Ryan + Fiss(Caps) have built an admiration(as close to friendship as Props can have until they surpass the age of 35) over the years that few non front rowers could understand. The teams boast arguably the 2 biggest wings in the league with BLRC’s Laudisio and Caps Zaruba each measuring over 6 foot 3 and hovering around 240lbs. Both are most well known by their #8’s with Capilano’s Glen McKinnon, a modern day Colin McKenzie, being honored as last year’s CDI Player of the Year and BLRC’s Admir Cejvanovic becoming one of the most dynamic players in the CDI. That type of familiarity normally makes for the type of closely contested match we have seen over the years from the 2 teams.

A passionate pre-game speech from BLRC Veteran Steve Batie had the players focused and ready to prove that the results of the past 7 games were not merely a fluke. The first 20 minutes of the match belonged to Joe Dolesau. Joe is known to all coaches in our league, and most know exactly what he’s going to do when the ball gets to him…but stopping him is another matter. On Joe’s 1st try, he split the D and took off from the half before conducting a give + go with Evan Thomas that saw Joe scoring untouched. On the Capilano Kickoff, the ball moved to Joe and he made the big break before the ball eventually ended up in Laudisio’s hands. “The Situation” is hard to stop once he starts going forward and he dotted down between the posts. Joe’s last try of the day may have been the most impressive as he blocked a kick, and ran it in from the fields half way point. Reekie would convert one of the tries and add a penalty before the Caps Matt Simms punished a BLRC penalty for 3 points. After 20 minutes the score was 20 to 3.

The next man on the score sheet was the Capilano 2nd Row Mike MacDonald. He barged through the BLRC defense from in close, bringing the score a little tighter at 20-8. BLRC #14, Matt Alexander then gave Joe a rest and took over the game scoring 2 tries and setting up 2 more. His 1st came on the counter attack as Matt took the ball at the BLRC 10 and juked around a handful of defenders for the try. His 2nd try came minutes later as a string of phases put the ball in his hands with only 1 man to beat. Reekie converted both Alexander tries and the half time score was BLRC 34, Capilano 8.

Off the kickoff, the ball found James Reekie who put the ball to Matt in some space. Matt beat his opposite and the Fullback before offloading to Admir for the try. On the next kick off Big Nate Mantle would crash into the Defense clearing some space for the BLRC backs. The backs would play a game of catch as they worked the ball downfield before Matt put the ball into Evan Thomas hands for a try. The next tally also came from Thomas. As has been documented by the fine editor of BC Rugby News, Evan Thomas has some basketball skills. NO ONE out jumps this guy! Evan was in pursuit of a high “up & under” inside the Caps 22. He challenged for the ball in the air, and came down with it. In addition to B-Ball skills, he’s also blessed with a staggering stiff-arm as the defender found out. Evan put the defender down and trotted in to the end zone untouched.

The stiff-arm seemed to bring some life back into the Capilano’s as they came out hard on the kick off and most of the remaining game belonged to them. Their 2nd try of the day came from Big Adam Zaruba! He took a beautiful cross kick from Nate Rees, and beat his man to score in the corner. The next Capilano score would start with Glen McKinnon and end with Glen McKinnon. The man with the striking strawberry blonde mustache would take the line out ball and follow the play as Zaruba bulled through a handful of would be tacklers before off loading to McKinnon for a try between the posts. A Simms conversion put the score at 55 to 20 heading into the home stretch.

The Capilano team was looking for the bonus point, and they were helped when an unwise decision led to a BLRC yellow card with less than 10 minutes to play. The Caps threw everything they had at the BLRC defence, and spent most of the remaining minutes camped within 10 metres of the BLRC goal line but couldn’t break through. Some staunch defense from Scott Plummer, Doug Breadon and Evan Thomas would deny them a bonus point. Finally the game would end as Cole McQueen picked up a loose Capilano pass and took the ball all the way down the field for the game’s final score. It would end 60 to 20. While all in attendance would agree that the BLRC deserved a win, I think that most would also agree that with the exception of (2) ten minute periods, this game was closely contested. Enough can’t be said about the Capilano’s not giving an inch even though they knew that the chances of a comeback were slim. They were fighting until the end.

Enough also can’t be said about the refereeing. The teams were fortunate to have Chris Assmus assigned to this game. These 2 teams are full of big, fast, high quality Rugby players. There was HARD scrummaging, HARD rucks, HARD tackles, close plays, “cheeky” moves…and I can’t think of any disputed calls from the players, captains or the crowd. More importantly, even though this was a hard game played between (arguably) the biggest rivals in the league where the score got out of hand early, Mr. Assmus never lost control of the game. I can’t recall a single punch, foul play or anything even close to it taking place. The true mark of a great referee!

We look forward to the challenges of this weekend where our Men’s Premier + 1st div squads travel to Oak Bay, our 3 Whites visit our old friends in Kelowna (post game festivities sponsored by Bob Monahan. Boat Race Winners get a helicopter!!) Our 3 Blues head to Richmond, Women’s Prems head to Surrey to take on Bayside, and our Women’s 2nd div battle the Bruins in Maple Ridge.

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Many Teams~One Club