Weekend Results: Lakers Topple CW; Bays @ Vikes ; Caps Sink Rowers; Ravens Soar Past Lomas
posted March 8 2014
[ed. comments below, except as noted.]
Castaway Wanderers 8 @ Burnaby Lake 18 Burnaby Lake
A satisfying win no doubt for the Burnaby tight XV as they matched a tight five with 3 national team players on it. The centre pairing of Dolesau and Gotegote seemed to be the difference in the close match. CW will be disappointed not to come away with some points but due to UVic’s loss of points for the default, they only sit 1 point back of the final playoff spot. Burnaby continue to lead the standings with a comfortable 8 point buffer over 2nd place James Bay.
Our new mainland correspondent Steve Feenstra had this to say:
“The league leading Burnaby RFC and the Castaway Wanderers were piped onto the soggy playing fields to engage in an epic test of wills on Saturday afternoon . Burnaby was riding a six game win streak, while Castaways were on a three game streak of their own. The last game between these two resulted in a 30-10 victory for Burnaby so the Wanderers were out to even the score. Burnaby has several BC Bears in their line up and Castaways have several Canadian players in their line up so this would be a stern test.
The game started with both teams struggling to get an advantage, but the wet weather and poor footing was always going to be an issue. Burnaby struck first by converting two penalties at the 5 and 13 minute marks to take a 6-0 lead. The next 20 minutes were like two Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep going at each other. Both packs hit each other hard and often, with neither giving an inch. Finally at the 33rd minute mark, a Castaway scrum resulted in a series of passes out wide and Jon Morris scored in the corner. With the convert unsuccessful the score was 6-5 for Burnaby. More kicking, knock-ons, penalties and hard hitting took place until a few minutes before the half when Jake Gotegote caught a downfield kick, turned it right back and off loaded to Joe Dolesau who raced 40 metres to go in for a try. With the successful convert the half ended 13-5 for Burnaby.
The second half continued in a relentless battle to gain a slight upper hand. The telling moment of the match finally came after the Castaways had kicked another penalty to close the score to 13-8 for Burnaby. With the score so close the next points were crucial and Burnaby prop Scott Mackay was the try scorer in the corner on the 52nd minute. The convert was unsuccessful but that was enough for Burnaby to hold on for victory.
What they said: The coaching staff of Castaways told their team that the victory would probably go to the team that made the fewest errors, especially in conditions like the ones today. The coaching staff of Burnaby gave a lot of credit for the win to the special bond the Burnaby team has after playing together for the better part of four years.
A well deserved shout out should also go to Drew Sager who officiated the game with control but let the play decide the winner.”
PREGAME
A much anticipated matchup between two of the form teams right now. CW when they have the national team players available are one of the better teams in the league, not a surprise, when a third of your team are current national team players you should be at the top. This week is the same, 5 CW starters are from the national ranks: Tiedemann, Buydens, Kleeberger, Scholz and Phelan. Burnaby are the number one team in the standings and are playing at home, they don’t have the capped players that CW do but they are a solid team and boast a consistent lineup. A number of their players perhaps should be getting a better look from national selectors. It’s going to be an interesting battle up front, CW have been dominant with Buydens in the lineup but Burnaby have a big forward pack as well. CW are missing Chauncey O’Toole who was devastating last week and it doesn’t look like Hearn is playing, he has been very impressive at #10 these last two games. Mike Scholz and Adam Kleeberger are new to the CW lineup, the supply of capped players to CW seems unlimited. It’s a tough call, Burnaby are a known factor but they faded badly against UVic last week, that’s a worrisome detail. The CW chemistry changes from week to week – difficult to know how this lineup will perform. I’ll have to go with the home side and #1 team but I don’t feel 100% confident in that selection. Prediction: Burnaby by 3.
BURNABY LAKE
1 Anthony Luca – Capt
2 Andrew Lackner
3 Scott Mackay
4 Kyle Wizniewski
5 Mike Gough
6 Steve Batie
7 Scott Plummer
8 Admir Cejvanovic
9 Cody Rockson
10 Geoff Ryan
11 Evan Thomas
12 Jeke Gotegote
13 Joe Dolesau
14 Brian Murphy
15 Cole Mcqueen
CASTAWAY WANDERERS
1. John Braddock
2. Keelan Chapman
3. Andrew Tiedemann (c)
4. Hubert Buydens
5. Jon Phelan
6. Riley Ilnicki
7. Myles Dingwall
8. Gord Kehoe
9. Riley Macpherson
10. Matt Buckley
11. Keenan Horton
12. Adam Kleeberger
13. Mike Scholz
14. Jonny Morris
15. Chad Northcott
James Bay 20 @ UVic Vikes 0 DEFAULT Wallace Field
It’s official, UVic have been stripped of 4 points in the standings for the default and now drop from 4th to 6th spot. James Bay get 5 points and remain in 2nd. It’s a bye week on the 15th but on the 22nd a HUGE match as James Bay hosts Burnaby in the battle of the top teams. UVic travel to the Lomas, looking for some redemption.
PREGAME
Defaulted by UVic. That’s the latest I heard, the BCRU site just says “it’s cancelled”, not postponed or defaulted, just cancelled. So we’ll wait to see the standings update after the weekend. You can scroll below to get more detail on that story.
Capilano 23 @ Vancouver Rowing Club 3 Brockton Oval
Caps proved true to the prediction and strangled the life out of the Rowers attack, holding them to 3 points. When the Caps can play their game they can beat any team as evidenced by their wins over Burnaby and James Bay. The Caps remain in 3rd spot within attacking distance of 2nd if the Bays should falter and a comfortable 8 point lead on the 4th place Ravens. The Rowers have four weeks to make up the 6 points on the 4th place Ravens for the final playoff spot. It’s possible and as luck would have it, they face them after the bye week, if they win that they’re in the race, if they lose it, the playoffs are probably a bridge too far. The Caps travel to Windsor Park for another huge battle against CW, with important playoff repercussions.
PREGAME
The Rowers surprised the Caps in their last meeting in September, I suspect the Caps took the Rowers too lightly last match and tried to match their style of play. Caps are a ball control, strong defence, grind it out sort of team. Rowers will want to spread it wide. I think Caps will be better prepared this time and will play their style of game. If that’s the case and they can shut down the Rowers attack, they should prevail. With UVic likely losing points in the standings with the default both Caps and Rowers will look to benefit. Caps want to solidify their hold on 3rd place and Rowers will be eyeing that last playoff spot in 4th. Prediction: Caps by 6.
CAPILANO
1. Jesse Ryan
2. Clayton Hunter-James
3. Evan Marshall
4. Robbie McCall
5. Taylor Clark (i)
6. Sam Lanigan
7. Gareth Dyer
8. Glen McKinnon (C)
9. Chris Robinson
10. Charlie Jones A(C)
11. Adam Zaruba
12. Joel Hulett (i)
13. Brady Carpenter
14. Bruce Bowman
15. Matt Sims (i)
16. Shaun Wilson
17. Evan Mallory
18. Jeff McKinnon
ROWERS
1 Alex Forrest
2 Chris Seyler
3 Jake Chawhan
4 Phil Hosie ©
5 Justin Parlato
6 Michael Jordan
7 Quinn Cowie
8 George Richmond
9 Darren Harris
10 Doug Crowe
11 Kevin Gurniak
12 Richard Thompson
13 Brian Derham
14 Caleb Hansen
15 Duncan James
UBCOB Ravens 30 @ Meraloma 18 Connaught Park
The Vikes misfortune is the Ravens good fortune as they now occupy the last playoff spot, 1 point ahead of CW. The Lomas managed 18 points which is an improvement over their average of 11.6 per game. The Lomas keep battling even though winless so kudos to them on maintaining focus and continuing to improve. There’s talk of league reorganization if Seattle wins the Div 1 so relegation next year may look a little different, difficult to say right now, but more regional competition seems to be a hot topic now. Ravens will face Rowers when Premier resumes, the Lomas host UVic.
PREGAME
Ravens will be looking to make up ground on CW and Vikes this round and depending on the CW-Burnaby result will likely do so. They could very well end up in 4th spot after Saturday with a bonus point win. The Lomas are winless this season and sit in last place. They have a -229 point differential. The bright side is it’s a home game for them so anything is possible. Based on current form though, Ravens have to be favourites. Prediction: Ravens by 12.
AROUND THE LEAGUE
There’s a lot of parity in the Island Division One as Port Alberni have defeated Velox at home for the 2nd time. That leaves Velox and Cowichan tied for first with 37 points, Nanaimo next with 36 and Port Alberni trailing with 33. So it may come down to the last weekend of the regular season when Cowichan hosts Velox and Port Alberni hosts Nanaimo to determine home field advantage in the playoffs. All four teams make the playoffs to determine top Island team with 1 hosting 4 and 2 hosting 3.
On the mainland Seattle and UBC had bye weeks but Richmond solidified their hold on 3rd spot. Only the top 3 teams make the playoffs and only Bayside appear to have a chance to catch Richmond for the 3rd spot, UBC and Seattle have a lock on 1st and 2nd but the order will come down to a final matchup between the two on April 5th.
FULL RESULTS
MEN’S LEAGUES
Canadian Direct Insurance Premier League – Sat. March 8th:
Castaway Wanderers RFC 8 – 18 Burnaby Lake Rugby Club
Capilano RFC 23(+1) – 3 Vancouver Rowing Club
UBCOB Ravens 30(+1) – 18 Meraloma
UVic Vikes 0 – 20(+1) James Bay UVIC DEFAULT
Ceili’s Cup (First Divisiion) League – Sat. March 8th:
Castaway Wanderers RFC 0 – 22(+1) Burnaby Lake
Capilano RFC 39(+1) – 0 Vancouver Rowing Club
UBCOB Ravens 27(+1) – 17 Meraloma
UVic Norsemen vs James Bay POSTPONED
Okanagan Spring Brewery League One – Sat. March 8th:
Kamloops Rugby Club 25 – 12 United Rugby Club BPs TBC
Langley RFC 7 – 41(+1) Richmond RFC
Abbotsford RFC 18 – 9 Surrey Beavers
Okanagan Spring Brewery League Two – Sat. March 8th:
Kamloops Rugby Club 10(+1) – 14 United Rugby Club
Langley RFC 5(+1) – 8 Richmond RFC
Abbotsford RFC 55(+1) – 0 Surrey Beavers
Lower Mainland Third Division – Sat. March 8th:
POOL A: Capilano-A 53(+1) – 3 Vancouver Rowing Club
POOL A: Kelowna at Burnaby Lake POSTPONED
POOL A: SFU at Kats NOT REPORTED
POOL B: Abbotsford 20 – 12 Surrey
POOL B: Chilliwack 0 – 20(+1) UBC CHILLIWACK DEFAULT
POOL B: Capilano-B 12 – 25(+1) Ridge Meadows
POOL B: Brit Lions-B 50(+1) – 5 Richmond RFC
Vancouver Island First Division – Sat. March 8th:
Velox Academy 0 – 82(+1) Nanaimo Hornets
Velox Valhallians 12(+1) – 16 Port Alberni
Comox 0 – 20(+1) Cowichan COMOX DEFAULT
WOMEN’S LEAGUES
Women’s Adidas Premiership – Sat. March 8th:
Seattle RFC 10 – 24(+1) United Rugby Club
SFU 20(+1) – 0 Emerald City Mudhens MUDHENS DEFAULT
Capilano RFC 29(+1) – 14 Bayside AA
Abbotsford RFC at Velox Valkyries POSTPONED
Women’s Division 1/2 – Sat. March 8th:
United-2 12 – 48 Kamloops
Brit Lions 10 – 29 Cowichan
*Weekend Predictions: UVic Will Default Game vs James Bay – Controversy Brewing*
posted March 6 2014
[ed. comments below]
Normally I run this weekly column when the predictions are ready but I’ll wait for the lineups first which will be tomorrow – for some teams – there are the usual culprits that never provide their lineups. Not professional in my opinion, and a mark against working towards efforts to “improve this league and make it the best in North America”. Remember that quote because it’s germane to the following discussion.
So here is the issue. UVic defaulted their game to James Bay this weekend. They have two teams entered into the University 7s so they didn’t feel they could put out a quality XVs team, two if you consider the 1st division Norsemen. They said let’s postpone it. James Bay said, no we’ll postpone the 1st division game with the Norsemen, but we want the Premier game to go ahead as scheduled on March 8th. They went to the competition committee, the competition committee said the Premier game has to go ahead. UVic said, then we default.
So now UVic risks losing points for the default (-4) plus possibly a financial penalty.
The controversy doesn’t end there however as other people and clubs have got involved, in particular Tom Larish, the Capilano coach, who put out an email calling for the sides to “find a middle ground” and that this wasn’t good for the league and the efforts to “improve this league and make it the best in North America”.
So there it is, we’ll start a separate discussion thread on this in Letters to the Editor.
My feeling is that this is a thread that leads back to the same place as mandatory publishing of rosters before the game. How professional do you want the BC Premier league to be? Is it an amateur league where it’s hit and miss on certain benchmarks or do you want it to be held to the same criteria as a professional league? I think the BC Premier league is the best amateur rugby competition in North America, but it’s not going to become more than that in it’s current form. Until something better evolves it’s going to exist in this pseudo-semi-professional state, and issues like this are going to come up.
In a professional league one team would not say, “sorry can’t make the scheduled game, something came up” but in an amateur league it happens all the time. We’re stuck in that transitional area where different clubs apply different standards and the competition committee sorts it out. This time they came down on the side of, “it’s scheduled, you knew about the conflicting dates, you’re responsible”. Next year, different committee, could be a different ruling.
We’ll publish the predictions tomorrow, with some rosters.