Blues Sr. Men: Ontario wins final pre-CRC game vs. Atlantic Rock

July 04, 2017

Blues Sr. Men: Ontario wins final pre-CRC game 29-17 over the Rock

(PETERBOROUGH, ON) - In a holiday Monday contest, the Ontario Blues Senior Men's team hosted the Atlantic Rock at the Peterborough Pagans Rugby Club. A strong contingent of Peterborough locals and rugby enthusiasts from around the province were on hand to watch the two Canadian Rugby Championships (CRC) rivals go to work and both sides did not disappoint. The Blues defeated their rivals from the East 29-17.

The first half began with both sides trading possessions early on. No team looked like it would let the other through, until the fifteen-minute mark when Mike Sheppard (Stoney Creek Camels) finished off a strong offensive push by the Blues.

Right after the Sheppard try, John Sheridan (Markham Irish) had a great run down the sidelines for what seemed to be the second try of the match, but was ruled out of bounds at the 5-metre line. Sheridan did not let that phase him, though as minutes later, he scored in the same location.

The Rock did not go into halftime quietly. The Eastern Canadian squad scraped away at the Blues lead late in the second half. Their first points came off of a Cooper Coats penalty conversion. Immediately after, the Rock recorded a try and Coats converted as the clock hit 40 minutes. The score stood at 10-10 at the half.

The Atlantic Rock struck first in the second half. Brett Johnson scored early, followed by a Coats conversion, which put the Rock out front 17-10.

Following the Johnson try, it was all offense from the Blues squad. Josh Campbell (London St. George's), Jeremy Wright (Lindsay RFC) and Lucas Rumball (Balmy Beach) all added tries in the final 15 minutes of the match and Will Kelly (Brantford Harlequins) converted twice. At the end of the match, the score was 29-17 for the Ontario Blues.

The match capped off a weekend where the Rock fielded two teams to play against the Ontario Blues program. The first game took place on Friday, June 30 as the Blues' and Rock's respective 'A' sides took the pitch at Lindsay Rugby Football Club. A high scoring affair saw both sides notch four tries, but Ontario edged the Rock by a score of 28-25.

Both the Rock and the Blues are preparing for the Canadian Rugby Championship season. The first game for the Blues is July 22 in Truro, Nova Scotia against the Rock. Following the first game, the competition will move to Calgary, where the Blues play the Prairie Wolfpack on August 13 and the BC Bears on August 16. Streaming details are yet to be announced by Rugby Canada.

ABOUT THE ONTARIO BLUES

The Ontario Blues program is the high performance representative program for male and female rugby players in Ontario. Rugby Ontario is represented at the provincial level by the Ontario Blues High Performance program. The program includes representative teams from Under-15 to Senior in both Women’s and Men’s Fifteens. Specifically, the program is designed to develop and showcase rugby players for Canadian representative national teams.

ABOUT RUGBY ONTARIO

Rugby Ontario is the provincial sports governing body responsible for the organization of rugby in Ontario. Our mission is to establish a stronger identity for rugby in Ontario by promoting the sport’s core values and by fostering a culture of inclusiveness and excellence on and off the field of play.

To learn more, visit https://www.rugbyontario.com/