Capilano Match Reports: Premier Men Defeat Lomas, Women Win Sevens Tournament
from Capilano Rugby
Thank you to all three of our match report writers this week. Jayne Isherwood, John Langley and Steve Feenstra. All the reports can be found below.
Also thank you to Chris Doll for photo galleries from the last few Premier Men’s games.
Click here to view photos from Capilano vs Meralomas
Click here to view photos from Capilano vs UBC
Premier Men
After watching the Capilano 3rd Div. and 1st Div. teams take it on the chin, it was up to the Cap Prems to try and even things up a little.
The Cap Prems did come through with an inspired performance that resulted in a 24-21 victory for the visitors from the North Shore.
The Caps played an energetic game with lots of passes out wide and open field running. The set pieces were adequate in the line outs, while the scrums were dominated by the visiting Caps.
The home team seemed to prefer an in tight ground game for large portions of the match which was effective between the 22’s, but didn’t get them over the Capilano try line until the second half. The Caps were comfortably in charge for most of the game until they got two yellow cards in the last 10 minutes. This understandably put some wind back in the Loma sails and they turned the last part of the game into a nail biter.
The game was hard hitting but clean so it was a bit of a surprise when the binning occurred near the end. Caps will have to clean up whatever the issues were to warrant the cards.
The game opened with Capilano passing nicely from their own 22 all the way to the Loma 22 only to pass it over the sideline. That was a sign of how the Caps wanted to spread the field and play an expansive game.
At the 3 min. mark Caps were awarded a shot at the posts and # 10 Jeremy Simon potted the first of 4 PKs to make it 3-0 Caps. The second PK came 10 minutes later to make it 6-0 Caps. The first try of the game came at the 16 min. mark when #13 Johnny Franklin stepped in front of a Loma pass and carried the ball 60 metres to paydirt. With the convert it was 13-0 Caps.
Jeremy Simon then put two more through on PKs and the Cap lead was 19-0 at the half.
The second half started well for the Loma as their # 10 O’Leary made a clearance kick from near his goal line that was subsequently gathered by one of his team mates who promptly ran the distance for a Loma try. With the extras it was 19-7 for Caps.
At around the 60 min. mark Caps Johnny Adams worked a well-timed intercept and ran most of the way with a late off load to # 14 Phil Le Lievre who dotted down. No convert but Caps in driver’s seat at 24-7 with less than 10 minutes to go.
Then with the game in its late stages, the binning of two Caps set the table for the Cap fans to sit on the edge of their seats as Loma scored and converted two quick tries to make it 24-21 Caps with 2 minutes left to play.
Thankfully for the Capilano’s they weathered the last few minutes and kicked into touch to end the game.
Thanks to Meralomas for hosting
Thanks to the match officials
by Steve Feenstra
Caps Women on Fire
Premier Women Exhibition 7s
The Premier Womens team was invited to an exhibition 7s tournament in Burnaby this past weekend. Thank you so much to Burnaby, Scribes, and the referees and fans for a brilliant Saturday.
Game 1 – Caps W
Burnaby Lake was their first opponent and Caps came out strong with some early tries. A forwards heavy squad meant a lot of powerful carries freeing up room for the backs to run. Some weak tackles allowed Burnaby to offload their way to the try line. The Caps prevailed to secure their first win of the day.
Game 2 – Caps W
The Caps second game of the day was against a speedy Scribes team. Starting off evenly matched – the Caps women used their experience and patience to put several tries on the board. The Scribes did not go down without a fight putting in strong shifts on offense and defense.
Final – Caps W 27-21
For their third game in a row, the Caps women faced Burnaby Lake in the finals. Once again Capilano came out strong to score 2 tries early in the game putting them up 10-0. Burnaby put on the afterburners and successfully penetrated the Capilano defense with two converted tries putting them up 14-10 at the half. The start of the second half didn’t go in the Caps’ favour as Burnaby scored another to put them up 21-10. Capilano put in some strong work on defense and a Burnaby knock-on in the tackle led to an easy try under the post to bring it to 21-17. Caps kept the pressure on and managed another try to put them up 22-21. After a few stressful minutes of both Burnaby and Capilano having possession, Nicola Jones sealed the Caps victory in the final play of the game.
Women’s 2nds V Richmond/Brit Lions
The Capilano Women’s 2nds were in action against Richmond/Brit Lions in Delta this weekend. They played three periods of 12s. The game started at a fast pace with a heavy defensive shift required from the Caps early on. Suhad Mardikian was the first to put points on the board with a try in the 5th minute. Although the defensive effort was great the Richmond/Brit Lions were able to score 3 tries. In the 18th minute, lock Katie Blewman scored to keep Caps in the match. Caps finished the period 19-12. After the break, Capilano steadied into their structure and were able to put in some massive positive tackles. Francesca McDonnell stepped up and controlled the game beautifully. Sarah Elias and Captain Saila Deschamps added to the try tally with Caps finishing the second period up 22-19. A game this close promised a close finish. The third period saw a try from the Richmond/Brit Lions to put them ahead once again. This did not dampen the Capilano spirit as Suhad Mardikian made her second intercept of the match and scored the try. Sarah Elias used her massive pace and strength to dot another one down for the Caps with the convert by Mia Hill; Caps had made their lead too much for the Brit Lions to match. Lara MacFarlane, Alicia Parker-Sutton, and Maddy Arbuckle deserve shoutouts for having brilliant games and showing so much improvement since joining the club (and game) this season.
by Jayne Isherwood
Capilano Men at Meralomas
Another exciting day of Rugby at Connaught Park:
Three Mens games at historic Connaught Park home of the Meralomas: It is always nostalgic for many of us to visit the home of the Meraloma Club. Their clubhouse is classic and takes us back in time. The pictures on the walls of their clubhouse remind some of us of our youth playing Canadian Football and Rugby against our peers and rivals from this historic club. Bill Ewing was the coach of the North Shore Cougars and he became the first President of the Capilano RFC. The BC Lions Football team that was formed in 1954 took their name from the North Vancouver Lions, who changed their name to the North Shore Cougars and the BC Lions Orange and Black colours came from the Vancouver Meralomas. Pictures of former Merakoma and BC Lion Verne Lofstrom who became a North Shore All Black after moving over the bridge, and he later bacame a Capilano when we merged. Verne ran hard and was tough as nails! Many of the old football crew have passed but some are still around, Bill Ewing, Dennis Page, John Mckenzie, Tom Kirk, Robin Dyke, and yours truly JL, are still with us. Other that have Rugby roots are still around as well. Dave and Bill Dunn, Gord Currie, Lee Morgan, Bucky Ellison, Denny Maynard, Kevin Davies, Ian Sellars, Buzz Zelkie, Ken Robinson Larry Sunnell and others, that I have missed, I am sure can tell many stories about past battles at Connaught Park. Today there was a good turnout of old Ruggers, Many in camping chairs, in the sunshine on the West side of the field. It is great to see them out supporting their current day Capilano RFC. On the other side of the pitch were veterans such as Gary Fumano supporting the Lomas. In addition a good turnout from the Capilano Women who continue to support their clubmates whenever they can.
The 3rd Division Game was won by Meralomas: 29-7
The Lomas have had to adapt to the changing demographics of the Kitsilano neighbourhood of Vancouver. They bring in players from oversees and all over Canada to keep their club going. Their club has a great history and it is good that they are continuing as a multi sport club. Their 3rd division was very competitive and came away with a well deserved victory over Caps today. Caps have struggled with numbers partly due to the Covid break but today managed to have a full starting lineup. Also the Snowcaps over 40 side has helped out by supplying some player to ensure that the Capilano 3rd Division team have enough players and reserves to field a full side. It looked like the Caps would be shutout today Lomas were up 29-0 but some snowcaps that had entered the fray, changed that. Mike Johnson passed to Raul Chile is he is better known as, for a try that erased the zero on the scoreboard. I unfortunately didnt see it as I had packed up and moved to the main pitch to watch the Capilano 1st Division. I did get the message though and from several sources. One said it was a long run by Chile somewhere in the neighbourhood of 60 meters, other reports had it considerably shorter. When Chile arrived at the Premier game he was still very pumped up and began threatening to take away the position of Capilano Premier players if they didnt improve their performance. It is great to see the club fielding a 3rd side and thanks to everyone involved to continue this effort. Thanks to todays referee for his handling of the game.
The First Division Game. Won by Meralomas by a score of 15-0
Caps started out defending quite well but Lomas hit with a penalty kick followed by a try. Caps defenders missed a couple of tackles and Meralomas made them pay. Caps had some chances to reply with penalty kicks but chose to go for line outs instead. Unfortunately for them they were unable to finish. The penalty count against Capilano seemed to be quite high and that didnt help the cause.
Meralomas added another try in the right corner as they swung the ball off a lineout. The final score was 0-15. Thanks to todays referee and thanks to the Lomas for hosting us. Caps take on Kamloops at home next weekend while the 3rd play Ex Brit Lions. The Premiers get another Bye. Get out for the game if you can. Go Caps!
by John Langley