Burnaby Lake – February 2022

Burnaby Match Reports and Videos: Women Defeat United, Men Split Premier and Div 1 Matches with Capilano

by Mike Devlin

A beautiful day for rugby at Burnaby Lake on Saturday saw 3 games played, The 2 mens games were as close as could be with each side claiming a W and the margin of victories being one and two points, while the women overwhelmed their opposition in a one sided affair to start the day. With such evenly matched clubs, the Men’s winner on the day was to be decided by the post-game boat race but that ended in a tie.

BLRC Women 53 – United RFC 0

The BLRC got on the board at 43 seconds with a powerful run from Santina Luti bringing the ball into the United 22m. the ball was recycled and sent to the centres where Jess Walrond finished it off between the posts. It was that kind of game. The BLRC struck again at 6 minutes with Luti powering over the goal line and Chelsea Rodgers converting. At 11 minutes it was Katie Grudzinski taking a short pass from Nina Boundy at the 5m over the line. Rodgers again, added the extras.


Francesca Andreoli breaks a tackle – photo by Zach Lattie

Burnaby Lake pushed through at 17 minutes with Alya Govorchin taking a pass in untouched. The restart was returned by Burnaby Lake for a try, Jess Walrond getting her 2nd and Rodgers adding her 3rd conversion. At 24 minutes, Captain Leyhana Van Vugt, took the ball from the United 22m to the goal line and popped to Natasha Lalonde who scored in the corner. United stiffened up a bit after that and made some forays into Burnaby Lake territory but couldn’t cross the paint. At the break, the score was 36-0 to the home side.

Jess Walrond opened the 2nd half with an 80m run for a try that was converted. At 54 minutes Aphra Taylor was rewarded with a try. Simran Gillar scored next after Jess Walrond turned over a ball inside the United 22m to make it 53-0 where it stayed to the final bell.

The full game can be seen here: https://youtu.be/tWN3eQgzo0Q

The women have a break until March 5 when they host the Scribes.

BLRC First Div Men 18 – Capilano RFC 19

The BLRC Men began strong in the first 20 minutes. 2 Capilano penalties punished by Nolan Shelley to the tune of 6 points and a Jack Brady try in the corner had Burnaby Lake up 11-0 after the first quarter. It looked like the rout was on, but Capilano dug deep and hit back, earning a penalty at the BLRC 22m. The kick didn’t hit but it gave the visitors some momentum which they did turn into points shortly thereafter. The #12 hit a hard line at the 22 on the wide side of the field and dodged a tackle or three en-route to the goal line. The conversion was good, and the score sat 11-7 at the break.


Tom Rafuse & Jack Brady team up to bring down a Capilano ball carrier – photo by Zach Lattie

Ten minutes into the new stanza, The BLRC were caught running the ball out of their own 22m. A pass was dropped and pounced on by Caps #10 Lucas McLennan who brought the ball into the BLRC 5m. One pick and go against some porous defence saw Capilano in the lead. The convert made it 14-11 to the visitors.

With 20 minutes to go in the game, Dan Josok was inserted into the game. Josok was last seen at the beginning of February 2020 and made his return to the pitch on Saturday. The speedy winger built some momentum for the team on a quick tap, making 20 yards and then a few minutes later took a pass with a bit of room and ran 50m for a try. Nolan Shelley added the extras to put the BLRC in the lead 18-14.

Capilano took the lead back though with about 5 minutes left. A BLRC ball carrier took the ball into contact a bit loose and his opposite popped it out. Caps saw a large overlap down the far side of the field and exploited it. The ball went through a few sets of hands via offloads and eventually the #7 ended up with it while diving over the try line. 19-18 to the visitors which was your final.

The full game can be seen here: https://youtu.be/vx3t8lhh5HY

The First Division Men are off until March 5 when they travel to UBCOB.

BLRC Premier Men 21 – Capilano RFC 19

At 2:30pm the BLRC and Capilano faced off for the umpteenth time under sunny blue skies. The game, along with all others that days was played on the 3rd Div field due to a beetle infestation on the Premier field. While the pitch was in great shape, a pipeline is being placed 15 feet from the sideline and construction was under way, so it wasn’t ideal for those supporters in attendance. The BLRC don’t have a full home day again until March 12th so we hope it will be sorted out by then.

The Premier match was as evenly fought as the First Div Match. The lead was passed back and forth. Both teams had flashes of brilliance and a few moments that make you question what they’ve been doing on Tuesday and Thursday nights since August. At the final whistle, the BLRC had won the game on home turf and the fans in Blue & White were happy and the bar was merry.


Kou Odaka wraps up Haward Mulundi – photo by Zach Lattie

Capilano had the momentum in the early going, getting the ball down over the Burnaby Lake try line but were held up. At 9 minutes, the BLRC made their way into the Capilano end with Dylan Vermette leading the charge. The Blue & White camped out there for 6 minutes, unfortunately knocking the ball on twice while crossing the try line. Eventually the dam broke and winger Jack Gelbart cut through the centres scoring under the posts. Ethan Turner hit the convert and so the home side were up 7-0.

The lead was short lived however as only a few minutes later, Capilano 8-man Glen McKinnon had brought the ball into the BLRC Red Zone and after the ball went all the way left, it returned all the way right where Jeremy Simon was waiting to score. Mike Moloney made the difficult kick to tie the game. Just before the break, Capilano struck again. Jeremy Simon saw a hole in the BLRC defence and sent a cross kick to Haward Mulundi who took the ball on the bounce. Mulundi was wrapped up by Kou Odaka but he offloaded to big Glen McKinnon who crossed the paint for 5 points. Capilano led at the half 12-7.

The BLRC moved the scoreboard only two minutes into the 2nd half. The BLRC poached a Capilano lineout and the ball was sent wide to Brian Fitzpatrick who outpaced the Capilano defence down the touchline and scored. Ethan Turner slotted the kick to give Burnaby Lake the lead 14-12.

Both teams threatened over the next 10 minutes with Johnny Franklin breaking through all but one BLRC defender and Ethan Turner taking the ball all the way to the Capilano try line before Caps scrambled to get it back. Capilano had the best of the play over the next 10 minutes and it was Mr Capilano himself, Chris Robinson, cutting through the BLRC defence at their own 5m to score. Moloney added the extras and visitors were back on top 19-14.

Late in the game Brian Fitzpatrick found some room and put the ball to foot for a kick and chase. Mulundi and Fitzpatrick dove for the ball in front of the try line and referee Brad Schwalger deemed Fitzpatrick to have knocked it on. A big moment on the game’s final play, a Capilano scrum on their own 5 metre. The BLRC pack, shoved the Caps scrum back and stole the ball. 2 pick and goes later and it was James Catterson diving over the try line with Dinbandhu latched on in support. The score was tied and Brian Fitzpatrick lined up 5m from the touch line for the conversion. Brian slotted it and so Burnaby Lake were victorious 21-19.

A solid bounce back game for the Burnaby Lake men after a loss two weeks ago on the Island. The forwards were a lot more solid in the sets. The work done on Tuesday and Thursday by scrum coach Anthony Luca paid off. The scrums were night and day compared to their game against CW. Hildebrand & Bhardawaj won a handful of penalties at scrum-time. Catterson and Dinbandhu made a ton of plays on both sides of the ball. The backline was led by captain Neil Maclaine who wasn’t quite flawless, but pretty close. Fitzpatrick and Gelbart were try scorers and made some highlight reel plays throughout the game.

The Capilano side as always was led by the ageless Glen McKinnon and the aging Chris Robinson. 2 of my favourite players to watch. I can’t count the number of times I thought them to be the best players in a Capilano game over the years. Mike Moloney was the star in their backline, but I was also impressed with the play of Haward Mulundi who was exciting every time he was around the ball. He made a ton of tackles on defence as well.

The full game can be seen here: https://youtu.be/8FL-6HzC_O8

Authors note: We had some issues with the broadcast but got 60 smooth minutes. We are still working on the graphics, and when to use the view from which camera…but it’s a work in progress! Big thanks to Aaron Takel for helping me out in the broadcast tent!

This past Fall my good friend and Aaron Takel’s brother-in-law Steve Batie passed away. Steve was a former UVIC Vike and long-time member of the BLRC while also representing Canada at the U-21 World Cup and the BC Bears on numerous occasions. Steve’s family has partnered with the Canadian Rugby Foundation to set up the Steven Batie Memorial Fund. Support for this fund will help grow the game of rugby and support the UVIC Men’s Rugby and BLRC Junior Program. If you can support the fund, please do.

https://canadianrugbyfoundation.ca/index.php/steven-batie-memorial-fund/

Posted in BC Premier.