BC Premier Week 5 Rosters & Results: Westshore Down Bays; Lomas Dominate Burnaby; Pride Overcome CW; Ravens Topple Caps
Week 5 wrapped up with the two undefeated sides, Meraloma and Pacific Pride, maintaining their perfect record. The two university sides, UVic and UBC, are competing in the Canadian University Championships and will meet in the final on Sunday.
Rosters are in the format previous/current week.
James Bay 12 v Westshore 21
Referee: Nathaniel Hight AR1: David Hale AR2: Claude Paterson
Venue: James Bay AA- MacDonald Park
It was Westshore winning their 2nd in a row with tries by Darian Morrison (2) and Nelson Oyoo (1). They not only gained points in the Premier standings but won the Barnard Cup awarded to the top Premier side on the Island in the fall season. Westshore move up to 5th place in a tie with CW and Burnaby, all teams at 11 points, with Burnaby and Westshore having a game in hand. James Bay remain in the cellar with 1 point from 5 games. Next week Westshore host UVic and James Bay visit the Lomas.
Pregame
#10 hosting #7. The Bays had a strong roster in their last match and pushed the Pacific Pride to the final whistle, losing 15 to 19. Westshore in their last match won their first Premier league game in two seasons, 26-19 over Capilano.
Westshore have a stable roster with only a few changes to their starting XV. They’re missing Admir Cejvanovic at #8 and Harrison Langi comes off the bench for the start. Jeff Oluoch starts on the wing with Nelson Oyoo moving to the reserves.
The Bays are missing the national 7s players they had last week Cody Nhanala, Max Stewart, Anton Ngongo, D’Shawn Bowen. Also missing is Sam Reimer, the former Pacific Pride and Toronto Arrows player and Jack McCarthy who is scoring tries for Memorial University this week.
The Bays pushed the Pride to the wire last week but with a stronger roster, Westshore have basically the same roster that defeated Capilano last week. It should be a close match but we’ll go with the higher ranked team in this one.
Prediction: Westshore by 2.
Westshore
1 Emerson Prior
2 Matt Evans
3 Kane Perrett
4 Matt Weir / Nathan Groenewold
5 Nathan Groenewold / Matt Weir
6 Brian Waraba
7 Tom Heuser
8 Admir Cejvanovic / Harrison Langi
9 Yuya Kimura
10 Payton Gibson
11 Nelson Oyoo / Jeff Oluoch
12 Liam Clark
13 Darian Morrison
14 Alvin Otieno
15 Johnstone Olindi
16 Justin Tasse
17 Harrison Langi / Simeon John
18 Daragh Carroll / Duncan Polson
19 Seth Recalma / Quinn Baak
20 Quinn Baak / Mark Discombe
21 Mitch Nuie / Devon Stroud
22 Jeff Oluoch / Nelson Oyoo
23 Jake Brown / Alex Mentiply
JBAA
1) Andrew McPherson
2) Wyatt Pilz
3) Kyle Steeves
4) Jack MacIntosh
5) Asfi Saeed / Teigan White
6) Dakota Lachance
7) Tom Richardson
8) Cody Nhanala / Asfi Saeed
9) Sam Reimer / Crosby Stewart
10) Crosby Stewart / Mike Newenheusen
11) Malik James
12) Mike Newenheusen / Tom Burton
13) Max Stewart / Liam McGuckian
14) Anton Ngongo / Craig Mitchell-Hermann
15) Tom Burton / Keegan Neary
16) Toby Ng
17) Mike Gallagher / Tajoniel Forbes
18) Jordan Brown / Jeremiah Gonevou
19) Jeremiah Gonevou / Moe Steves
20) Tyler Grom / Travis Best
21) Jack McCarthy / Mark Yuen
22) D’Shawn Bowen / Kai Khan
23) Craig Mitchell-Hermann / Adham Young
Meraloma 57 v Burnaby Lake 5
Referee: Will Nelson AR1: Benjamin Lambrick AR2: Cole Pedrick
Venue: Connaught Park
The Lomas keep on rolling and rolling up the scores, they’re in 1st place with 25 points from 5 games and a point differential of +174. Burnaby fall into a 5th place tie with CW and Westshore. Next week the Lomas host James Bay and Burnaby host UBC.
Pregame
#1 hosting #5. Lomas in their last match ran amock over defending champions UBC, 73-7. Burnaby in their last match lost a close one to the Ravens 36 to 29.
The Lomas have rotated their front row from last match and Brian Hayden starts at second row. The loose forwards and halfbacks remain the same. Monty Weatherall starts in the centres and James McTurk replaces Dewi Williams on the wing.
Burnaby only have 3 changes in the starting XV with Lautaro Rowland-Toscano coming in as blindside flanker, moving Dom Baptista to second row. Nolan Shelley starts at inside centre. Veteran Jeke Gotegote returns to Premier and is in the reserves.
The Lomas are undefeated and playing good rugby, no reason to bet against them this week.
Prediction: Lomas by 6.
Meraloma
1 Mark Rickard / Geoff Brooks
2 Scott Bowers / Gil Cann-Vaana
3 Connor O’Flaherty / Conor Turley
4 Finton O’Sullivan
5 John Willis / Brian Hayden
6 Giovanni Guizzetti
7 Evan Galvin
8 Jalan Farris
9 Pete Hurst
10 Trent Ormsby
11 Keith Graham
12 Joe Thomas / Monty Weatherall
13 Conrad Kuita / Jad Hamade
14 Dewi Williams / James McTurk
15 Louis Whellan
16 Gil Cann-Vaana / Scott Bowers
17 Geoff Brooks / Mark Rickard
18 Conor Turley / Connor O’Flaherty
19 Brian Hayden / Ethan Jaques
20 Ethan Jaques / Corne Ludick
21 Monty Weatherall / Joe Thomas
22 Jad Hamade / Conrad Kuita
23 James McTurk / Nico Leonard
Burnaby
1 Luka Bradley
2 Evan Mackey
3 Bryce Worden (c)
4 Cooper Johnston
5 Ish Mulema / Dom Baptista
6 Dom Baptista / Lautaro Rowland-Toscano
7 Jack Bolton
8 James Kelly
9 Mohi Parata
10 Ethan Turner
11 Jack Brady
12 Scott Barr / Nolan Shelley
13 Brian Murphy
14 Stu Jamieson
15 Eoin Reddington
16 Preston Petrovich
17 Juan Videla
18 Lalit Bharadwaj
19 Tom Rafuse / Iain Kennell-Webb
20 Colton Lee
21 Rafael Malcolm / Jeke Gotegote
22 Nolan Shelley / Kishan Karunathasan
23 Dan Josok
Pacific Pride 31 v Castaway Wanderers 22
Referee: Malcolm Klaver AR1: Andrew Owen AR2: Al Humphries
Venue: Windsor Park
The Pride kept their undefeated record intact but trail the Lomas by a point and are in 2nd place. CW are tied for 5th place with Westshore and Burnaby. The top 6 teams advance to the playoff round. Next week the Pride host the Ravens which should be a top match, CW host Capilano.
Pregame
#2 hosting #6. The Pride in their last match narrowly defeated the last place Bays. CW in their last match fell to the Vikes 36-26.
CW are without Gradyn Bowd again, Gareth Sandner takes the #10 role. Also missing are Denver Fatt, Nik Hildebrand, Mike Fuailefau and Gabriel Smith. Ollie Nott switches from centre to openside flanker. Jack Shaw returns to the lineup at fullback.
The Pride have 4 changes in the forwards and 1 in the backline. Karl Hunger comes into the starting lineup at second row, Von Richardson starts at openside with Ben James shifting to #8. Theo Espagnol gets the start at loosehead prop. In the backs James Thiel replaces Mark Balaski at #10.
The Pride have a strong roster, they’re sitting at #2 in the standings and CW are missing a few key players.
Prediction: Pride by 7.
Pride
1 Sam Miller / Theo Espagnol
2 Sam Mace
3 Tyler Matchem
4 Alastair Bruce / Karl Hunger
5 Jaiden John
6 Reid Davis
7 Ben James / Von Richardson
8 Charles Taimani / Ben James
9 Jesse Kilgour
10 Mark Balaski / James Thiel
11 AJ Kosemple
12 Noah Flesch
13 Liam Poulton
14 Ian Jones
15 Rhys James
16 Noah Kyneston
17 Theo Espagnol / Aaron Pacha
18 Spencer Cooper
19 Aaron Pacha / Alastair Bruce
20 Tyler Buchanan / Braden Bruce
21 Tyler Driscol / Paddy Kirwin
22 Ben Logan / Justin Taylor
23 Paddy Kirwin / Tyler Buchanan
CW
1 Gavin Kratz / Jace Peters
2 Jace Peters / Jack Wallace
3 Denver Fatt / Gavin Kratz
4 Nat Dring / Ayo Ogunlabe
5 Tom Davidson
6 Nik Hildebrand / Gord Kehoe
7 Gord Kehoe / Ollie Nott
8 Mike Finnemore
9 Zech Pilgrim
10 Sion Griffiths / Gareth Sandner
11 Gabriel Smith / Hugh Mager
12 Mike Fuailefau / Matt Sutherland
13 Ollie Nott / James Mitchell
14 Hugh Mager / Sion Griffiths
15 James Mitchell / Jack Shaw
16 Chris Carson / Harry Seymour
17 Brandon Ng / Chris Carson
18 Conor McKenzie
19 Ayo Ogunlabe / Ben Peper
20 Ben Peper / Keegan Hall
21 Ray Robinson / Rio Apt
22 Keegan Hall / Ray Robinson
23 Marshall Stove / TBD
UBCOB Ravens 57 v Capilano 19
Referee: Stephen Stothers-Robertson AR1: Saro Turner AR2: Lola Vaaranpaa
Venue: Jericho Beach Park
The Ravens run up a big score on the winless Caps to keep a solid hold of 3rd place. The top 3 teams are pulling away from the rest of the pack, the top two teams get a bye into the semi-finals. The Caps are in 9th place with 2 bonus points, just ahead of the Bays. There’s one more week of Premier action before the winter break. Next week the Ravens visit the Pride while the Caps visit CW.
Pregame
#3 hosting #9. The Ravens defeated Burnaby in their last match while the Caps fell to Westshore.
The Ravens have Aaron McLelland back at #10, he was impressive for Canada in the Classics tournament in Bermuda. The forwards remain largely unchanged, Josh Tweed is missing and replaced by Yo Hasegawa at loosehead prop. Trevor Helgason starts at second row with Frank Carson moving to the bench. In the backs Hamish Janes starts at outside centre and Nicholas Blain returns to the roster at fullback.
The Caps have Chris Robinson and Glenn McKinnon back from the Classics tournament, both are in the reserves. Ethan McCarthy and Jason DeFreitas switch places with McCarthy moving to hooker and DeFreitas moving to blindside flanker. Logan Weidner, who recently signed with Old Glory of the MLR, isn’t in the roster and is replaced by Flynn Heyes at openside flanker. Cali Martinez, the former UBC prop, who signed with Old Glory of the MLR last season is in the reserves.
The Ravens, the higher ranked team, also at home. The Caps looking for their first win.
Prediction: Ravens by 8.
Ravens
1 Josh Tweed / Yo Hasegawa
2 Taiyo Minami
3 Tom Kaijaks
4 Frank Carson / Trevor Helgason
5 Don Carson
6 Matthew Chan
7 Joe Locke
8 Grant Crowell
9 Billy Wickham
10 Harjun Gill / Aaron McLelland
11 Cole Keffer / Tsugunosuke Hirai
12 Tsugunosuke Hirai / Harjun Gill
13 Aga Ligamy / Hamish Janes
14 David Thompson / Cole Keffer
15 David Carson / Nicholas Blain
16 Billy Hornaday / Riku Konrad
17 Yo Hasegawa / Kaleb Whitelaw
18 Kaleb Whitelaw / Guido Suez
19 James Carson / Frank Carson
20 Lepi Funilagi / Aga Ligamy
21 Henry Bibby / Lance Lamberton
22 Jack Scher / Marceau Bertin
23 JP Fieldhouse
Capilano
1 James Ritzema
2 Jason DeFreitas / Ethan McCarthy
3 Andrew Paton
4 Armin Teimoori
5 Stephen Walsh / Ollie Winspear
6 Ethan McCarthy / Jason DeFreitas
7 Logan Weidner / Flynn Heyes
8 Reid Brookes
9 Brandon Power
10 Mike Moloney
11 Matt Nicol / Mahyar Hosseini
12 Ben Cameron / Chuck Huntingford
13 Johnny Franklin (C)
14 Cam Waddell
15 Josh Wang / Cam Perrin
16 Jesse Ryan / Cass Kocevar
17 Rich Merinsky / Cali Martinez
18 Marcos Merenyi / Campbell Chandler
19 Oliver Winspear / Stephen Walsh
20 Theron Coetsee / Glen McKinnon
21 Casey Paddock / Chris Robinson
22 Mahyar Hosseini / Sam Franklin
23 Tate O’Brien / Ethan Whiting