May 13
New England Free Jacks 15 v Rugby ATL 10 @ Veterans Memorial Stadium
New England are 1st in the East and have already qualified for the playoffs. Josh Larsen starts at second row.
Atlanta are 3rd in the East. Matt Heaton starts at openside and Cole Davis gets his first start for Atlanta on the wing. Conor Keys is in the reserves.
The American Raptors started strong going up 12-0. The Island had their share of ball and line breaks but a lack of precision with dropped passes and balls stripped in contact denied them any points. It was a defensive effort, by Gabe Casey, that led to their first try when he intercepted an ambitious wide pass by the Raptors inside their 22. It was converted 12-7 Raptors.
The 32 players to travel to NZ for the Pacific Four Tournament have been named. Comparing the list to the team from the November 2021 tour, there’s one outstanding name missing and that’s the #10 Emily Belchos De Goede. She started at fullback in the first test against USA but then started at #10 for the second win against the USA and the win over Wales. She looked like the first choice for #10 going forward. Alex Tessier started at #10 in the first USA match and may be the first choice #10 now, although Taylor Perry (formerly Taylor Black) would be in the running as well.
The BC Club finals are over so in BC the question is, what’s next?
This Saturday the American Raptors are visiting to take on the Canada West team, I’m expecting some PR from Rugby Canada on that soon. The game was going to take place at Starlight Stadium but it’s now been moved to Shawnigan Lake. The Raptors put 100+ points on the Seattle club team last weekend so they have some firepower.
May 7
New England Free Jacks 26 v Old Glory DC 20 @ Veterans Memorial Stadium
New England are 1st in the East. Josh Larsen starts at second row, Reegan O’Gorman is in the reserves.
Old Glory are 6th in the East. Luke Campbell starts at #8 and Doug Fraser gets the start on the wing.
Doug Fraser scored two tries for DC.
[ed. the official program with all rosters can be downloaded here in .pdf format. The BCRU are streaming four of the matches on their YouTube Channel – the men’s and women’s Premier, men’s 3rd div, men’s 1st div.]
The BC Club finals are this weekend hosted by Bayside at South Surrey Athletic Park. There are four men’s titles on the line this Saturday and three women’s titles.
This is what it looks like when you don’t qualify for the World Cup, one test match against 27th ranked Belgium this summer. The men also get a game against the French Barbarians. The Belgium match is hosted in Halifax and the French Barbarians match is in Ottawa.
by Adam Roberts
Were Back! Fantastic weekend out in sunny White Rock which hosted the Junior and Senior Boys BC Open 7s tournaments. The Shark Tank at South Surrey Athletic Park, home of the Bayside Sharks, was the host for the weekend. The new clubhouse is eagerly awaiting final occupancy from the city, so it kind of sits there, gorgeous, as a total tease for the viewer. It will play host to the BC Club Finals on May 7th, so this was a great dry run for the club. (A little background: During Covid the BC School Sports Membership had a vote, which passed, for BC School Sports to govern each sport. In the case of rugby basically removed BC Secondary Schools Rugby Union from governance. On April 20th the deadline was set for teams to declare for a 7s or XVs season. After the declaration teams could not play the opposite code with the exception of the BC Open 7s tournament on April 29th/30th/ 1st )
by Peter MacDonald
On a good day for rugby at Jericho some hopes were fulfilled and others dashed as the prems hearts were broken at the end and the Rippers secured a victory late in the game with a stunning interception while Abby was on the boil and the Rips down to 13 men.
from BCRU
With all 14 Finalists now confirmed, the full seven-match schedule is now confirmed for the 2022 Senior Club Finals this Saturday, May 7, 2022, taking place at South Surrey Athletic Park the home of Bayside Sharks RFC who will be looking to make the most of their home field advantage in their two Championship matches.