BC Premier Week 6 Predictions & Rosters: Westshore @ CW, UBC @ UVic, Rowers @ Ravens, Bays @ Lomas
It’s Week 6 of the BC Premier, the men’s national XVs team are apparently leaving on Sunday for their November tour, so some names will be missing. The big game is UVic v UBC to determine who goes to the national university championships. They are currently ranked #3 and #2 nationally but due to the current qualifying system, one of them will miss out while an unranked team from Alberta will qualify, two teams from Quebec, two from Ontario, one from Atlantic and host TWU. U SPORTS combines BC and Alberta as one region in women’s rugby.
Castaway Wanderers v Westshore @ Windsor Park @ 2:30
Ref: Jack Webster AR: Finley Rose, Ryan Burrell
#10 hosting #5. Westshore with a huge upset over last year’s champions Ravens last week. CW lost to Meraloma.
Westshore missing Jesse Kilgour, Matt Oworu and Kyle Tremblay, also Joe Kingham out this week. The national U20 players are back from Chile, Porter Gook starting at hooker and Chris Rose on the bench. It will be brother v brother when Chris comes on at scrum half with brother Josh as #10 for CW. Seth Recalma returns to the roster in the second row.
CW with a stable roster, #8 John Wallace moves to hooker and Theo Espagnol moves to tighthead prop. Chris Gamage missing this week so Zech Pilgrim starts at #9. George Vorster moves from flanker to #8 and Jaimie Kaefer comes off the bench to start at openside flanker.
Westshore missing a number of key players, they won’t be the same team as last week but should have enough to get the win. Prediction: Westshore by +3.
Westshore (Oct 17th/current)
1 Emerson Prior
2 Matt Evans / Porter Gook
3 Kane Perrett
4 Josh Jukes / William Mwanji
5 Joe Kingham / Seth Recalma
6 Ryder Heaney-Corns / Josh Jukes
7 Taine Clague
8 Matt Oworu / Ryder Heaney-Corns
9 Jesse Kilgour / Natsu Yokoyama
10 Jean-Louis Desgouttes
11 Denis Abukuse
12 Guy Lansdown
13 Kyle Tremblay / Rhys James
14 Natsu Yokoyama / Finn Hussey
15 Rhys James / Oliver May
16 Nathan Groenewold / Matt Evans
17 Liam Ingerson
18 Junoir Atalifo / Nathan Groenewold
19 William Mwanji / Matt Weir
20 Matt Weir / Toby Higgins
21 Grayson Perry / Chris Rose
22 Josh Nordstrom
23 Oliver May / Grayson Perry
CW (Oct 17th/current)
1 John Braddock
2 Theo Espagnol / John Wallace
3 Alexander McCallum / Theo Espagnol
4 Nat Dring
5 Mike Finnemore
6 Hugh Mager
7 George Vorster / Jaimie Kaefer
8 John Wallace / George Vorster
9 Chris Gamage / Zech Pilgrim
10 Josh Rose
11 Shane Rikley-Krindle
12 Liam Poulton
13 Glenn Roy
14 Alex Harper
15 Charlie Duncombe
16 George Brown
17 Fred Regan
18 Tomas Vidal / Alexander McCallum
19 Nate Smith / John Humphries
20 Jamie Kaefer / Charlie Kirkwood
21 Zech Pilgrim / Jacob Isaac
22 Henry Williamson
23 Sam Blundell
UVIC v UBC @ Wallace Field @ 2:30
REF: Chris Assmus AR: Malcolm Klaver, Chris Horsley
#8 hosting #6. The match will count towards the BC Premier standings but the big prize is the national university championship qualification. Only one team goes despite being ranked #2 and #3 nationally. UBC lead the head to head series by +10 so UVic not only need the win, they need the point differential. Also the Coastal Cup will be awarded after the match, that’s the three team series between UBC, UVic and TWU. UBC are 3-0, UVic 2-1, TWU 0-4. A UBC win guarantees them both the uni qualification and the Coastal Cup, a UVic win by more than 10 gives them both, if it’s exactly a +10 UVic win then the tie breaking rules come into effect.
UVic are pulling out all the guns, Cooper Coats is back at #10, Josh McIndoe at #12. Ronin Smith is back at #8, moving Robert Reid to openside flanker. Brendan Kim gets the start at tighthead prop.
UBC are playing their cards close to the vest, the only team without a published roster at the time of writing. Will Cody Nhanala and Stephen Webb suit up is the main question. We’ll update the roster when it’s published.
This should be a great match and it should be live streamed on the UVic YouTube channel. I’m going to say UVic win at home with Cooper Coats but they don’t get the 10+ margin. Prediction: Vikes by +7.
UBC (Oct 17th/current)
1 Graeme Francolini
2 Ethan McCarthy
3 Charlie Clark
4 Alex Muir
5 Joe McNulty
6 Callum Arnesen
7 Max Birtley
8 Cody Nhanala
9 Stephen Webb
10 Caleb Seumanutafa
11 Zach Zapanta
12 Liam James
13 Alastair Marshall
14 Elijah Palov
15 Max McGavern
16 Emmett Allan
17 Kevin Griffiths
18 Thomas Kaluza-Hughes
19 Viktor Wozniak
20 Caden du Plessis
21 Ben Martin
22 James Biss
23 William Barrett
UVic (Oct 3rd/current)
1 Jack Marshall
2 Jeffery Young
3 Kale Jones / Brendan Kim
4 Carter Ebrahim
5 Alex Gordon
6 Muiredach Casey
7 Aiden de Wit / Robert Reid
8 Robert Reid / Ronin Smith
9 Reece Thompson
10 Jack Driscoll / Cooper Coats
11 Keegan Neary / Alex Gamage
12 Lockhart MacGregor / Josh McIndoe
13 Grady Watt / Lockhart MacGregor
14 Thoran Koyote / Keegan Neary
15 Michael Oughtred
16 Grady Curran
17 Brendan Christian / Kale Jones
18 Brendan Kim / Brendan Christian
19 Seb Isherwood / Aiden de Wit
20 Jaxson Jones
21 Lachlan Crooks / Greg Leitch
22 Luke Hamilton / Grady Watt
23 Noah Dickens / Spencer Cotie
Ravens v Vancouver Rowing Club @ Jericho Rugby Park @ 2:30
Ref: Cole Northcott AR: Phil Webster, Griffin Skinner
#2 hosting #11. The Ravens at home will want to erase the memory of last week’s defeat, their first defeat of the season. It’s unfortunate for the Rowers that they’re next up. They sit bottom of the table looking for their first win.
Ravens have a fully loaded roster, Lucas Rumball at openside flanker. It looks like a number of national team players have the green light to play this weekend before taking off on tour. Josiah Morra back on the wing, Lockie Kratz at centre, missing is Takoda McMullin at fullback, Andrew Coe takes his place.
Rowers only had 18 listed in last week’s roster, same this week.
This should be a lot to a little, Ravens looking to get back on track, fully loaded, at home. Prediction: Ravens by +18.
Ravens (Oct 17th/current)
1 Josh Tweed
2 Louis Kassapian
3 Kaleb Whitelaw / Owen Kokan
4 Don Carson
5 Frank Carson
6 Matthew Chan / Brian Ndirangu
7 Brian Ndirangu / Lucas Rumball
8 Joe Locke
9 Max Kahler / Paddy Kirwan
10 Jamin Hodgkins
11 Niko Andrianos / Josiah Morra
12 Lockie Kratz / Ethan Berry
13 Hamish Janes / Lockie Kratz
14 Cole Keffer / Niko Andrianos
15 Takoda McMullin / Andrew Coe
16 Brendan van der Merwe / Joseph Sargeant
17 Grant Newell-Madu / Dennis Gianacopoulos
18 Dennis Gianacopoulos / Kaleb Whitelaw
19 Hillyard Carson / Matthew Chan
20 Drew Denford
21 Paddy Kirwan / Max Kahler
22 Ethan Berry / Cole Keffer
23 Lewis Ahrens
Rowers (Oct 3rd/current)
1 Greg Crowe / Josh Waller
2 Chris Cairns
3 Conor Kelly
4 Relmu Wilson-Valdez
5 Ryder Germain / Sven Ewans
6 Ben Madge / Ben Caulfield
7 Ben Caulfield / Thomas Parry
8 Thomas Parry / James Whelan
9 Luis Salvado
10 Jack Usher
11 Martel Wolfenden / Nick Jr Tuilua
12 Hayden Jones
13 Dax Millington
14 Sam Stoddard / Caleb Saunders
15 Jordan Wilson Ross
16 Jake Schwartz / Gregory Crowe
17 Ian Prendiville / Jake Schwartz
18 Sawyer Herron / Ben Madge
19 tbd
20 tbd
21 tbd
22 tbd
23 tbd
Meraloma v JBAA @ Connaught Park @ 2:30
Ref: Doug Thorpe AR: Thomas Cooper, Rupert Whiting
#3 hosting #4. The Bays postponed their match last weekend against UVic until Dec 4th, their last match was October 3rd. They have a 3-0 record, the only undefeated team in the competition. The Lomas have won their last 3 matches after losing their first two.
The Lomas have Conor O’Brien starting at #8, he returned last week but was in the reserves. Corne Ludick moves to flanker. Ethan Chambers comes off the bench to start at scrum half with Polynesia Crichton missing from the roster. Aaron Leahy gets the start at outside centre.
The Bays have another strong lineup, Botchar, Matchem, Creighton, Flesch all suiting up. Their backline of Lloyd, Flesch, Bowen, Thiel & Thiel is national level.
This should be an interesting one, the Lomas with two back to back 50 point games, the Bays undefeated so far this season. I’ll have to go with the undefeated record. Prediction: Bays by +5.
Meraloma (Oct 17th/current)
1. Andy McMeel
2. Mark Rickard
3. Kabongo Mukendi
4. Craig Trimble
5. Ronan Coffey
6. Eoin Buckley / Corne Ludick
7. Andy Readman
8. Corne Ludick / Conor O’Brien
9. Polynesia Crichton / Ethan Chambers
10. Anzac Tipene
11. Carlos Thompson
12. Nathan Booker / Eoin Dorgan
13. Eoin Dorgan / Aaron Leahy
14. Mitchell Stokes
15. Jacob Walmsley
16. Hayden Kuresa
17. Bob Letiu
18. Luca Aukuso
19. Dylan Hickey
20. Conor O’Brien / Eoin Buckley
21. Ethan Chambers / Ryain Ahearn
22. Evan Gerbrecht / Ben Pope
23. tbd / Evan Gerbrecht
JBAA (Oct 3rd/current)
1 Scott Warner
2 Austin Creighton
3 Wyatt Pilz / Tyler Matchem
4 Callum Botchar / Harrison Archdekin
5 Jaiden John / Callum Botchar
6 Will Rennard
7 Brendyn Beck / Alex Jordan
8 Alex Jordan / Michael Nieuwenhuysen
9 Thomas Burton
10 Craig Mitchell-Hermann
11 Mostyn Findlay / Kainoa Lloyd
12 Kainoa Lloyd / Josh Thiel
13 Noah Flesch
14 D’Shawn Bowen
15 James Thiel
16 Neil Trainor
17 Omar El Gayed
18 Tyler Matchem / Wyatt Pilz
19 Harrison Archdekin / Jaiden John
20 Michael Nieuwenhuysen / Brendyn Beck
21 Lane Bowker
22 Isaac Gonevou / Ty Driscoll
23 Ty Driscoll / Ryan Boothroyd
Women’s Premier
A few questions around the women’s Premier, the Seattle games are apparently exhibition, they play each team once, will the BCRU system count the results and award points? The Ravens have two defaults in a row, how will this weekend’s match be recorded, will rosters be published?
Burnaby Lake v Seattle @ Burnaby Lake Rugby Club @ 12:45
Castaway Wanderers v Westshore @ Windsor Park @ 12:45
Ravens v Vancouver Thunderbird @ Jericho Rugby Park @ 12:45