U19 Blues close in game two, ultimately drop series with All-Americans; Photo Credit to Simon Jones
(GUELPH, ON) - The Ontario Blues Under-19 Men’s development program hosted the Boys High School All-American (BHSAA) East squad this weekend for a two-game exhibition series at the University of Guelph. After falling to the BHSAA’s 26-5 in game one of the series, the Blues needed an offensive spark to establish some white line fury against the Americans in game two of the Canada Day weekend series.
The Americans set the tone in the first half by scoring the first points of the game - converting on the try to make it a 7-0 game minutes after the opening kickoff. After receiving a yellow card, the Blues defensive system was put to the test after a long goal line stand on their own 5-metre line. Down to 14 players on the field, the Americans took advantage of the overlap against the Blues – scoring another try in the corner to make it a 12-0 game early on. Unfortunately, the Blues had a difficult time staying out of penalty trouble. They received their second yellow card of the game, resulting in a penalty try for the BHSAA’s – as the blues trail behind 19-0 in the opening half.
As the Blues offense started to put together steady sequences of phase play, the U-19’s finally snatch two tries from the BHSAA’s nearing half – making the score 19-12 after 40 minutes. After an unsuccessful try attempt – the BHSAA’s earned themselves another yellow card, putting them down a man for the second time in the game. The Blues capitalized on this opportunity by not giving up and piecing together several phases to score a well-deserved try – making it a two-point game, trailing 19-17.
Shortly following the Ontario try, the Americans didn’t let the score gap shorten as they kicked a penalty goal to make it a five-point game (22-17). The game concluded with a final score of 22-17 in favor of the Boys High School All-American East squad.
The All-Americans took both games in the two-game series against the Ontario Blues Under-19 Men’s development program. The Blues look to bounce back to their winning ways when they host a touring side from St. Peter's College in Auckland, New Zealand. The game will be at Sherwood Forest Park in Burlington on July 9.
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/
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Kevin Baxter
Communications Coordinator - Rugby Ontario
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