Blues hoist the MacTier Cup for the sixth time after win over Rock! Photo Credit J Ashley Nixon
(CALGARY, AB ) – The Ontario Blues Senior Men have won the 2018 Canadian Rugby Championship Final with a 22-17 win over the Atlantic Rock. The Blues were crowned MacTier Cup Champions on Sunday afternoon in Calgary.
The Blues had met the Atlantic Rock twice before during the season, splitting their home-and-home series. With a familiar foe on the other side of the pitch, the Blues and Rock were bound to reignite the rivalry on Saturday.
The Atlantic Rock opened things up in the championship match with a penalty try after some sloppy play in the set piece from the Blues. Kainoa Lloyd scored a try off of a Shawn Windsor and Lucas Hammond connection to answer back. The Blues scored once more in the first half to take a 10-7 lead, with the scoring play coming from Marcello Wainwright. With a penalty conversion from the Rock’s Cooper Coats, the Atlantic side would tie things up before half time and the Blues and Rock were deadlocked at 10.
There was no scoring by either team for the first half of the second frame, but Lucas Hammond was able to break the dry-spell at the 65-minute mark. Andrew Coe then side-stepped his way through the Rock defense at the 71-minute mark to further Ontario’s lead in the Canadian Rugby Championship Final. Ferguson hit an easy conversion to bring the Blues’ lead to 22-10. The Rock added one more converted try to bring the final score to 22-17.
Lucas Rumball was awarded Man of the Match honours.
With the MacTier Cup win, the Blues have now hoisted the Canadian Rugby Championship trophy a total of six times (2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2018).
For more information on the Canadian Rugby Championship, go to www.canadianrugbychampionship.com. For more information on the Ontario Blues Senior Men’s program, go to www.rugbyontario.com/blues-senior-men/.
Ontario Blues Starting XV vs. Atlantic Rock - August 26, 2018
1. Djustice Sears-Duru, Crusaders
2. Andrew Quattrin, Aurora Barbarians/Ontario Arrows
3. Rob Brouwer, Lindsay RFC/Ontario Arrows (Capt.)
4. Paul Ciulini, Aurora Barbarians/Ontario Arrows
5. Mike Sheppard, Stoney Creek Camels/Ontario Arrows
6. Marcello Wainwright, Toronto Scottish/Ontario Arrows
7. Peter Milazzo, Toronto Scottish/Ontario Arrows
8. Lucas Rumball, Balmy Beach
9. Andrew Ferguson, Crusaders/Ontario Arrows
10. Shawn Windsor, Stoney Creek Camels/Ontario Arrows (Vice Capt.)
11. Kainoa Lloyd, Mississauga Blues/Ontario Arrows
12. Jamie Leveridge, Crusaders/Ontario Arrows
13. Andrew Coe, Markham Irish
14. John Sheridan, Markham Irish/Ontario Arrows
15. Lucas Hammond, Toronto Nomads
Reserves
16. Eric Howard, Brantford Harlequins/New Orleans Gold
17. Douglas Wooldridge, Lindsay RFC
19. Kolby Francis, Brantford Harlequins/Ontario Arrows
20. Josh Van Horne, Brantford Harlequins/Ontario Arrows
21. Riley Dinardo, Toronto Scottish
24. Mitch Richardson, Stoney Creek Camels/Ontario Arrows
25. Kieron Martin, Hamilton Hornets
26. Roman Cao-Riquelme, University of Montreal Carabins
Coaching Staff
Head Coach-Chris Silverthorn
Assistant Coach-Cory Hector
Assistant Coach-Aaron Carpenter
Manager-Mark Winokur
Performance Analyst-Rodin Lozada
Ontario Blues Senior Men’s Canadian Rugby Championship Schedule
GAME 1: Blues 22 - 34 Atlantic Rock – August 4, 2018 – Montreal QC
GAME 2: Atlantic Rock 9 - 22 Blues – August 7, 2018 – Burlington ON
SEMI FINAL: Blues 58-36 BC Bears - August 23, 2018 - Calgary AB
GOLD: Blues 22-17 Atlantic Rock - August 26, 2018 - Calgary AB
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/
WANT MORE INFORMATION?
Kevin Baxter
Communications and Marketing Coordinator - Rugby Ontario
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