Three podium finishes for the Ontario Blues at 2018 CRCs

July 23, 2018

Three podium finishes for the Ontario Blues at 2018 Canadian Rugby Championship in Saskatoon

(SASKATOON, SK) – Three Ontario Blues teams travelled to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan this past week to participate in the 2018 Canadian Rugby Championship. The Under 19 Men won gold, the Under 20 Women won silver and the Senior Women won bronze after the week-long National Championship event. Congratulations to all of the Ontario players, coaches and support staff on their medal performances at the 2018 Canadian Rugby Championship.

UNDER 19 MEN

The Ontario Blues Under 19 Men came into the tournament looking to improve upon a 2017 second place finish. An early loss by the Blues was avenged with a victory in the Gold Medal match to be crowned the 2018 Under 19 Men’s Canadian Rugby Champions.

In round robin play, they met a strong Atlantic Rock side first in the tournament and ultimately lost to their eastern neighbours 35-19. The Blues were able to bounce back in tremendous fashion when they met the host Prairie Blizzard side in Game 2 of their tournament. The Blues beat the Blizzard 64-6 to book their spot in the semi-finals against an undefeated Quebec team.

In the semifinals, the Blues looked to have the match in the bag, putting up 21 points in the first 24 minutes of the match. Quebec did not let up though and awoke their offense to bring the game within striking distance. With a narrow 21-17 lead, Tyler Webb sealed the deal as he sheared off of a driving maul to score and bring the final score to 26-17 for Ontario.

The finals saw a rematch for the Blues against the Atlantic Rock, who previously defeated the Ontario side in Game 1. The Blues seemed to learn from their mistakes and came out strong in the final match. The Atlantic Rock opened up the scoring, but the Blues offense answered quickly as Guershom Mukendi punched the ball over the line to tie the game at five points apiece. One more try from Braden Bruce – converted by Webb – came in the first half to give the Blues a 12-5 lead going into halftime. Quenton McLean Lavado added a quick second half try – converted by Dominic Johnson – off of a beautiful run to put Ontario’s point total at 19. The Atlantic Rock added one more try and a penalty kick to make things interesting, but the Blues were able to hold off the late surge to win the game 19-13.

UNDER 20 WOMEN

The Ontario Blues Under 20 Women played in a four-game round robin style tournament and were in tough against many strong opponents. The Blues were resilient in their attack and were able to achieve a 3-1 record – good enough for a silver medal performance.

In their first match, the Blues met the British Columbia Bears and were able to dominate their western rivals, winning the match 69-5. Scoring came from across the roster with Celia Martensson completing a hattrick, Leah Pedis and Taylour Hurd both scoring two tries and single tries coming from Camille Irvine, Annabelle Clement, Cassandra Tuffnail and Madison Woods. Hurd slotted an impressive seven conversions.

The second match was a whole new story as Ontario met Quebec on Wednesday. With only three tries scored between the two teams, it was a defensive battle between the two eastern provinces. Quebec opened the scoring with a converted try, but that was all the Blues would allow Quebec to do in the match. The Blues waited until the 45^thminute to take a crack at Quebec’s early lead with a try coming from Meredith Sirrs. Sarah Hoerig touched down in the corner ten short minutes later to put the Blues in the lead and ultimately solidify a 10-5 Ontario win.

In their third match, the Blues met the Nova Scotia Keltics, a squad which won the Eastern Canadian Championship the year before – which included Quebec, Nova Scotia and Ontario. The Keltics opened the scoring early, but Martensson answered back. Hurd converted the try to tie the game. The teams traded tries a few times more and the teams found themselves tied at 24 points late in the game. The Blues were able to get one more try to defeat the Keltics in a thriller. Tries came from Martensson (x2), Hoerig (x2) and Adea Elliot. Hurd notched two conversions.

In their final match, the Blues were in tough against a strong Prairie Wolfpack side which had won their first two games against British Columbia and Nova Scotia. Hurd scored the only try for the Blues as they were unable to sustain offensive pressure. They were defeated 17-5, but secured a well fought second place finish in the tournament.

SENIOR WOMEN

The defending champions were in Saskatoon this past week to fight for a second consecutive National Championship. Although the Senior Women were not able to repeat as champions, they came away with two solid victories, great memories and a solid bronze medal performance.

The Blues played in a four-game round robin style tournament. In their first match, they were immediately tested. In the match, they were up against their rivals from Quebec. The Blues opened up the scoring with a Colleen Irowa try, but Quebec pulled ahead and never looked back. The Blues were able to get within two points off of a Lauren Walkden try, but the Quebec team won the physical battle 36-22. Try scoring came from Veronica Harrigan, Irowa and Walkden. Lauren McEwen converted two tries and Irene Patrinos slotted one penalty kick.

Next up for the Blues was a strong Prairie Wolfpack team. The Blues conceded 14 points early before Arielle Dubissette-Borrice ended the early Wolfpack attack. Sara Svoboda and Emily Barber added tries of their own to tie the game late, but the Wolfpack scored late off of a quick tap and go to win the match 24-17. Tries from Barber, Dubissette-Borrice and Sara Svoboda were buoyed by one successful conversion from Patrinos.

Looking to get in the win column, the Blues met the British Columbia Bears in their third match of the competition. In a low scoring affair, the Blues were resilient on both sides of the ball. British Columbia scored their only two tries early in the match to lead 12-7, but the Blues clawed back with tries from Laura Russell and Sara Svoboda, both converted by Patrinos. The Blues squeaked out a character 14-12 win.

They finished off their tournament with a match against Nova Scotia. The Blues got away to an early 27-5 lead, bringing the 22-point deficit into the final frame. Nova Scotia was not going to lay down though, as they scored 19 unanswered points. Their comeback was cut short with the final whistle and the Blues came away victorious by a score of 27-24. Unfortunately, with the bonus point rule, Nova Scotia was able to total more points in the tournament and leap frogged the Blues for second place. The Blues finished with a strong bronze medal performance at the 2018 Canadian Rugby Championship.

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. The program includes representative teams from Under-15 to Senior in both Women’s and Men’s Fifteens and Under-18 Men's and Women's Sevens. 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/